■>^.■,/ww^,^.■.~^/-lr^^--^-■^^»SJ^^»^Y^^T1VM'*J^»*'^'^^^^"'■^^■■Wf"^ff  .H'V  IV^  ,  fiJ-^ti^tOtx 


DUPLICATE 


HX00013684 


rlOME  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


'  ^^fi^fMBek.  >fji  ii«jr  I  MwniiBB— aiiWMyaMaawatjaa 


uaaam 


L 


.'irecSirumciuUEAjuvvMiViSK^.'.VTVMHH 


^#d'ical  books 


o^^A^<v 


A. 


in  %  aittg  0f  Jfm  fork 

Ol0UpjgF  0f  ptjfgstrianH  attli  ^wrgMtts 


^.tintwtt  IGtbrary 


HOME  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
OF  MODERN  KNOWLEDGE 

No.  66 

Editors  ! 

HERBERT   FISHER,  M.A.,  F.B.A.     • 
Prof.    GILBERT    MURRAY,   Litt.D., 

LL.D.,  F.B.A. 
Prof.  J.  ARTHUR    THOMSON,  M.A. 
Ppof.  WILLIAM    T.  BREWSTER,  M.A, 


THE  HOME  ITlSriYEESITY  LIBRAEY 
OF  MODEElSr  KI^OWLEDQE 

i6mo  cloth,  50  cents  net,  by  mail  56  cents 

SCIENCE 
'Already  Published 

ANTHROPOLOGY By  R.  R.  Marett 

AN   INTRODUCTION   TO 

SCIENCE By  J.  Arthur  Thomsoic 

EVOLUTION ,..,.;.  By  J.  Arthur  Thomson  and 

Patrick  Geddes 

THE  ANIMAL  WORLD By  F.  W.  Gamble 

INTRODUCTION     TO     MATHE- 
MATICS      By  A.  N.  Whitehead 

^STRONOMY By  A.  R.  Hinks 

PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH  .   .   .   .  By  W.  F.  Barrett 
THE   EVOLUTION   OF  PLANTS  By  D.  H.  Scott 
CRIME  AND   INSANITY  .  .  .   .  By  C.  A.  Mercier 
MATTER  AND  ENERGY  ....  By  F.  Soddy 

PSYCHOLOGY By  W.  McDougaix 

PRINCIPLES   OF   PHYSIOLOGY  By  J.  G.  McKendrick 
THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EARTH  By  J.  W.  Gregory 

ELECTRICITY By  Gisbert  Kapp 

THE  HUMAN  BODY ByA.KEiTH 

Future  Issues 

CHEMISTRY By  R.  Meldola 

THE  MINERAL  WORLD  ....  By  Sir  T.  H.  Hollahd 


MAN 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY 


BY 

ARTHUR   KEITH,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

HUNTERIAN   PROFESSOR  AND   CONSERVATOR  OF   MUSEUM 
ROYAL    COLLEGE    OF    SURGEONS,    ENGLAND 

Author  of  ^* Embryology  and  Morphology  of  Man ^''^  ^* Ancient  Types 
of  Man^^^  etc. J  etc. 


NEW   YORK 

HENRY   HOLT  AND    COMPANY 

LONDON 

WILLIAMS   AND    NORGATE 


an  2.4 


^ 


PREFACE 

This  little  book  treats  of  the  history  of  the 
human  body  rather  than  of  its  structure  and 
mechanism.  It  reflects  the  opinions  current 
among  the  more  progressive  anatomists  of 
the  present  time.  The  author  has  relied  to  a 
large  extent  on  the  well-known  works  cited 
in  the  bibliography  at  the  end,  but  it  is  only 
fair  to  the  reader  to  mention  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  statements  are  founded  on 
unpublished  researches  made  by  the  author. 
The  last  chapter  sums  up  the  story  of  man's 
origin,  and  the  reader,  especially  if  unfamiliar 
with  the  geological  divisions  of  time,  may  find 
it  profitable  to  refer  to  this  chapter  when  the 
first  two  or  three  have  been  read. 

A.  Keith. 

Hoyal  College  of  Surgeons  of  England^ 
London,  W»C, 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOm 

I  How  THE  Human  Body  is  Studied           ,  9 

II  The  Human  Brain 21 

III  Man's  Place  amongst  Animals         .         .  39 

IV  Stature,  Proportion  and  Growth  .         .  64 

V  Erect  Posture 69 

VI  The  Tail  and  certain  other  Vestigial 

Structures          .....  79 

VII  Development  op  the  Human  Body          .  94 

VIII  Human  Monsters  an*d  Malformations     .  113 

IX  Changes  in  the  Body  durinq  Youth  and 

Age 129 

X  The  Sexual  Characters  of  the  Human 

Body 144 

XI  Racial  Characters  of  the  Body    .         .  164 

XII  Bodily  Features  as  Indexes  op  Mental 

Character 183 

XIII  Skin,  Hair  and  Sense  Organs         .         .  201 

XIV  Mechanism  op  the  Human  Body     ,         .215 

XV  Degeneration  and  Regeneration   .         •  231 

XVI  Summary — Antiquity  and  Genealogy  op 

Man 247 

Bibliography 253 

Index      • 256 


MAN 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY 
CHAPTER   I 

HOW   THE   HUMAN   BODY   IS    STUDIED 

In  all  the  medical  schools  of  London  a  notice 
is  posted  over  the  door  leading  to  the  dissecting 
room  forbidding  strangers  to  enter.  I  propose, 
however,  to  push  the  door  open  and  ask  the 
reader  to  accompany  me  within,  for,  if  we  are 
to  understand  the  human  body,  it  is  essential 
that  we  should  see  the  students  at  work. 
If  we  enter  in  the  right  spirit — with  a  desire 
to  learn  something  of  the  structure  of  man's 
wonderful  body  with  our  own  eyes — there  is 
nothing  in  the  room  which  need  repel  or 
offend  us.  The  room  is  lofty,  well-lighted  and 
clean ;  the  students  in  their  white  coats  are 
grouped  round  tables  on  which  lie  the 
embalmed  bodies  of  men  and  women  who  have 
run  the  race  of  life — often,  alas  !  with  but  ill 
fortune.  The  students  are  dissecting  systema- 
tically, each  with  his  text-book  placed  beside 
him  for  consultation  and  guidance,  and  with 
the  instruments  of  dissection  in  his  hands. 
The  human  body  is  to  be  the  subject  of  their 

9 


10  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

life's  work  ;  if  they  are  to  recognize  and  treat 
its  illnesses  and  injuries  they  must  know  each 
part  as  familiarly  as  the  pianist  knows  the 
notes  of  the  keyboard.  We  propose  to  watch 
them  at  work.  Each  student  is  at  his  allotted 
part,  and  if  we  observe  them  in  turn  we  shall, 
in  an  hour  or  less,  obtain  an  idea  of  the  main 
tissues  and  structures  which  enter  into  the 
composition  of  the  human  body. 

By  good  fortune  a  dissection  is  in  progress 
in  front  of  the  wrist,  which  displays,  amongst 
other  structures,  the  radial  artery  at  which 
the  physician  feels  the  pulse  and  counts  the 
rate  of  the  heart's  beat.  The  skin  here  is 
loose  and  thin,  and  as  the  student  turns  it 
aside  in  flaps  he  uses  his  knife  to  free  it  from 
the  white  subcutaneous  tissue  which  binds  it 
down  to  the  deeper  parts.  He  looks  at  his 
own  wrist  and  sees  why  the  skin  here  is  loose  ; 
as  he  bends  his  wrist  the  skin  is  thrown  into 
folds  ;  when  he  extends  it,  the  skin  in  front 
of  the  wrist  is  stretched  ;  unless  it  were  loosely 
bound  down  it  would  be  impossible  to  move 
the  wrist  joint  freely.  On  the  palm  the  skin 
is  different ;  it  is  thick  and  bound  firmly  by 
dense  subcutaneous  tissue  to  the  underlying 
parts  ;  there  would  be  no  firmness  of  grasp 
unless  the  skin  of  the  palm  were  thick  and 
closely  bound  down.  As  the  student  turns  back 
the  skin  from  the  front  of  the  wrist  he  searches 
in  the  loose  tissue  under  it  for  the  nerves 
which  supply  the  skin  with  the  power  of  feeling 


HOW  THE  BODY  IS  STUDIED    11 

and  for  small  veins  which  carry  the  used  or 
venous  blood  back  to  the  heart.  He  squeezes 
the  blood  backwards  in  these  vessels  ;  they 
swell  out  here  and  there  into  little  knobs 
owing  to  the  presence  of  pockets  or  valves 
which  permit  the  blood  to  flow  only  in  one 
direction,  namely,  towards  the  heart.  It  was 
the  study  of  the  arrangement  of  these  valves, 
nearly  three  centuries  ago  now,  w^hich  led 
Harvey  to  the  discovery  of  the  circulation. 
Beneath  the  skin  and  subcutaneous  tissue 
there  is  another  covering  which  has  to  be  cut 
through  before  the  sinews  or  tendons  in  front 
of  the  wrist  are  exposed  to  view.  This  third 
wrapping — the  deep  fascia  the  student  will  call 
it — is  membranous  and  strong  and  keeps  the 
tendons  in  place ;  workmen  often  find  it 
necessary  to  add  additional  support  by  means 
of  a  wrist-strap.  The  tendons  are  glistening 
almost  white  ;  eight  of  them  go  to  the  fingers 
(two  to  each) ;  one  goes  to  the  thumb  and 
two  act  on  the  bones  of  the  wrist  or  carpus. 
Just  above  the  ^vrist  joint  the  tendons  have 
attached  to  them  the  muscles  which  flex  the 
fingers  and  the  wrist.  They  look  so  simple 
in  the  dead  body ;  yet  one  has  but  to  watch  the 
fingers  and  wrists  of  the  pianist  or  of  the 
typist  to  see  how  quick  and  complicated  they 
can  be  in  life.  As  the  student  traces  the 
tendons  into  the  palm  of  the  hand  he  sees 
them  become  infolded  within  a  loose  sac  with 
its   interior   lined    by    a    smooth   lubricated 


12  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

surface.  This  synovial  sac  is  an  example 
of  the  perfect  manner  in  which  the  human 
machine  is  made  ;  a  self- oiling  mechanism 
is  provided  at  each  point  of  friction.  From 
overwork  or  injury  fluid  may  collect  in  this  sac 
and  weaken  the  power  of  the  workman's  wrist. 
Lying  side  by  side  with  the  sinews  at  the 
wrist  there  is  another  cord,  somewhat  like 
them  in  appearance,  but  very  different  in 
nature.  It  is  the  median  nerve.  Our  friend 
the  dissector  has  already  seen  a  patient  in  the 
wards  of  the  hospital  with  a  jagged  wound 
at  the  wrist  which  has  injured  the  nerve. 
In  that  case  he  noticed  that  the  thumb,  fore, 
middle  and  part  of  the  ring  fingers  had  lost 
their  usual  sense  of  feeling,  and  that  some  of 
the  small  muscles  of  the  thumb  had  no  longer 
the  power  of  movement.  For  our  benefit  he 
traces  the  nerve  upwards  in  the  forearm, 
arm,  through  the  armpit  until  it  reaches  the 
root  of  the  neck,  where  it  is  seen  to  be 
formed  by  five  pairs  of  nerve  roots  which  issue 
from  the  spinal  cord.  In  the  median  nerve 
we  see  one  of  the  paths  which  unite  the  brain 
and  hand  ;  messages  pass  by  it  from  the  hand 
which  the  brain  interprets  as  heat  or  cold, 
rough  or  smooth,  sharp  or  blunt ;  other 
messages  pass  outwards  from  the  brain  to 
start  or  stop  the  muscles  of  the  forearm  or 
fingers.  The  student  pays  particular  attention 
to  the  radial  artery  ;  on  the  wrist,  just  above 
the  root  of  the  thumb,  he  finds  the  vessel 


HOW  THE  BODY  IS  STUDIED    13 

resting  on  the  lower  end  of  the  radius.  He 
places  his  finger  over  the  artery  and  observes 
how  easily  he  can  press  it  against  the  bone. 
In  life  we  feel  the  artery  suddenly  expand  and 
then  subside  with  each  beat  of  the  heart ; 
with  a  finger  on  the  pulse  the  physician  knows 
how  the  heart  is  working. 

We  propose  to  observe  the  dissector  as 
he  traces  the  radial  artery  to  the  heart. 
Below  the  bend  of  the  elbow  it  is  seen  to 
issue  from  the  main  vessel  of  the  upper 
arm — the  brachial ;  the  brachial  in  turn 
is  found  to  be  a  continuation  of  the 
great  artery  of  the  armpit — the  axillary. 
From  the  armpit  the  great  arterial  channel 
is  followed  across  the  root  of  the  neck  through 
the  upper  opening  of  the  chest  or  thorax  until 
it  joins  the  aorta — the  great  vessel  which 
springs  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  artery  at 
the  wrist  is  merely  an  elastic-walled  pipe  which 
expands  passively  as  the  ventricle  discharges 
its  load  of  blood  ;  it  is  much  more  than  that. 
When  the  student  places  a  very  thin  section 
of  the  artery  under  the  microscope  for  our 
particular  benefit,  we  see  that  it  has  an  exceed- 
ingly smooth  lining,  in  order  that  the  blood 
may  flow  with  a  minimum  of  friction  ;  outside 
the  lining  there  is  seen  an  inner  coat  which 
contains  many  elastic  fibres  ;  then  another 
coat  made  up  of  small  contractile  or  muscular 
fibres.     These    muscular  fibres    regulate    the 


14  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

size  of  the  artery;  they  give  or  yield  with 
each  beat  of  the  heart,  and  then  contract,  thus 
assisting  the  heart  to  force  the  blood  onwards 
to  nourish  the  tissues  of  the  hand.  The  artery 
we  have  just  seen  under  the  microscope  had 
been  continuously  expanding  and  contracting 
for  over  seventy  years  at  the  rate  of  seventy 
or  eighty  times  a  minute.  No  elastic  tube 
yet  invented  by  man  could  have  done  that. 
We  note,  however,  that  it  has  suffered  the 
changes  which  overtake  our  arteries  when  they 
have  been  at  work  for  forty  years  or  even 
less ;  the  elastic  tissue  and  the  muscle  fibres 
are  clogged  with  lime-salts ;  the  elasticity  of 
youth  is  gone.  Hence  as  we  grow  older  we  can- 
not make  the  violent  "  spurts  "  of  our  youth. 
Before  leaving  the  dissection  we  have  been 
surveying  it  will  be  well  to  see  one  of  those 
marvellously  contrived  structures  known  as  a 
joint.  The  wrist  joint  is  still  hidden  by  the 
tendons  ;  even  when  these  are  cut  through 
the  interior  of  the  joint  is  not  yet  visible; 
it  is  enclosed  by  stout  bands  of  tissue  or 
ligaments  which  become  tight  when  the  joint 
is  over-bent.  They  prevent  dislocation  of 
the  joint ;  indeed,  so  strong  are  those  of  the 
wrist  joint  that  when  we  stumble  forwards, 
or  fall  on  the  outstretched  hand,  it  is  the 
bones  and  not  the  ligaments  which  are  apt 
to  give  way.  When  the  ligaments  are  cut 
through,  the  articulating  or  jointed  surfaces 
of  the  bones  are  seen.     They  are  covered  by 


HOW  THE   BODY  IS   STUDIED     15 

an  exceedingly  smooth  coating  of  white 
cartilage.  Here,  again,  there  is  a  self- 
lubricating  mechanism  which  reduces  friction 
at  the  joint  to  a  minimum.  In  those  individ- 
uals, however,  who  have  the  misfortune  to 
suffer  from  rheumatism  the  self-lubricating 
mechanism  has  failed,  the  cartilaginous  cover- 
ing has  become  dry  and  worn  away,  and 
instead  of  a  joint  which  works  smoothly 
and  silently  there  is  one  which  is  rough  and 
creaks  like  a  gate  swinging  on  a  rusty  hinge. 
We  have  surveyed  the  anatomy  at  the 
wrist  in  some  detail  and  with  a  very  distinct 
purpose.  At  every  part  of  the  limbs — upper 
and  lower — we  see  the  same  arrangement  of 
parts  as  at  the  wrist.  There  is  first  a  covering 
of  skin,  then  a  layer  of  subcutaneous  tissue, 
which  unites  the  skin  loosely  to  the  third 
wrapping — the  deep  fascia.  Within  the  sleeve 
of  deep  fascia  are  packed  the  muscles  which 
move  the  limbs,  the  nerves  which  control  the 
muscles  and  supply  sensation  to  the  parts  ; 
the  great  arteries  which  carry  the  nourishing 
blood  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart,  and 
the  great  veins  which  return  the  used  blood 
to  the  right  ventricle — the  pump  of  the  lungs. 
When  the  fleshy  or  perishable  parts  are 
removed  by  dissection  or  by  the  corruption 
which  so  soon  overtakes  the  soft  parts  after 
death,  only  the  bones  or  skeleton  remain  to 
represent  what  was  at  one  time  a  marvellous 
living  machine. 


16  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

We  now  propose  to  transfer  our  attention 
for  a  short  time  to  two  students  who  are 
uncovering  the  parts  in  front  of  the  neck 
between  the  chin  and  breastbone  or  sternum. 
The  windpipe  has  already  been  exposed,  and 
is  seen  issuing  from  the  voice-box  or  larynx 
below  the  chin  to  disappear  at  the  upper 
opening  of  the  chest  on  its  way  to  the  lungs. 
On  each  side  of  the  windpipe  the  carotid 
arteries  are  found  passing  upwards  to  supply 
the  head  and  brain  with  blood  ;  close  by  them 
are  the  jugular  veins  carrying  the  venous 
blood  in  an  opposite  direction.  Here  we  have 
an  opportunity  given  us  of  seeing  a  peculiar 
feature  of  man's  structure.  Just  above  the 
larynx  the  carotid  artery  divides  into  two 
branches,  an  external  one  which  nourishes 
the  face,  and  an  internal  one  which  supplies 
the  brain  with  blood.  Man  has  a  large  brain 
and  a  relatively  small  face,  hence  in  him  the 
internal  branch  is  the  larger.  In  all  other 
animals  the  external  is  much  the  larger, 
because  the  face  is  massive  while  the  brain  is 
small.  It  has  been  suggested  that  our  brains 
are  large  because  of  the  calibre  of  our  internal 
carotid  arteries  ;  that  statement  we  do  not 
believe  any  more  than  the  word  of  the  wag- 
goner who  assures  us  that  it  is  the  dray 
which  pulls  the  horse.  Our  object,  however, 
in  examining  the  anatomy  of  the  neck  is  to  see 
that  curious  structure  or  gland  known  as  the 
thyroid  body.     It  is  made  up  of  two  parts 


HOW  THE  BODY  IS  STUDIED    17 

or  lobes,  one  on  each  side  of  the  larynx  and 
upper  part  of  the  windpipe  ;  the  lobes  are 
united  together  by  a  part  which  crosses  in 
front  of  the  windpipe.  Most  glands  in  the 
body,  such  as  the  salivary  and  liver,  have 
ducts  or  channels  by  which  is  discharged  the 
substances  they  secrete,  but  there  is  no  duct 
connected  with  the  thyroid.  The  secretion 
which  it  forms  is  discharged  directly  into 
the  blood  stream  and  hence  it  is  called  a 
ductless  gland  or  a  gland  of  internal  secretion. 
In  recent  years  we  have  come  to  recognize 
that  the  secretion  of  the  thyroid  body  is  of 
the  greatest  importance.  In  children  who 
suffer  from  disease  of  this  gland  we  see  that 
the  growth  of  their  bones  is  delayed  or  ceases, 
their  skin  becomes  pasty,  puffy  and  ill- 
nourished,  and  what  is  more  serious  their 
brains  do  not  develop  properly,  and  they 
become  cretins  or  idiots.  In  some  parts 
of  this  country — especially  in  Derbyshire — 
the  thyroid  is  apt  to  become  enlarged,  forming 
a  goitre  and  giving  rise  to  the  condition 
popularly  known  as  "  Derbyshire  neck." 
There  are  other  ductless  glands,  such  as  the 
pituitary  body  which  lies  enclosed  within  the 
skull  and  below  the  brain,  and  the  suprarenal 
bodies  which  are  situated  in  the  abdomen 
above  the  kidneys.  Our  sense  of  well-being, 
our  capacity  for  work  and  for  pleasure,  the 
nourishment  and  growth  of  our  bony  frames 
depend  to  a  very  great  extent  on  the  manner 

B 


18  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

in  which  these  small,  insignificant-looking 
ductless  glands  perform  their  proper  functions. 

Our  time  with  the  students  in  the  dissecting 
room  has  almost  expired  ;  there  remains  only 
a  moment  to  glance  at  a  dissection  which  is 
exposing  the  important  organs  which  are 
enclosed  within  the  thorax  and  abdomen. 
Part  of  the  front  wall  of  these  cavities  has 
been  removed.  Within  the  thorax  we  see 
the  heart  enclosed  within  its  fibrous  sac — 
the  pericardium.  Two  great  arteries  issue 
from  its  upper  part — the  pulmonary  artery  to 
convey  the  impure  blood  from  the  right 
ventricle  to  the  lungs,  and  the  aorta  from  the 
left  ventricle  to  nourish  the  body  with  pure 
blood.  Two  great  veins  enter  the  right  side 
of  the  heart — ^the  upper  and  lower  venae 
cavse ;  they  bring  back  the  impure  blood 
gathered  from  the  various  parts  of  the  body. 
The  pulmonary  veins  convey  the  pure  blood 
from  the  lungs  to  the  left  side  of  the  heart. 
Within  the  thoracic  cavity  are  the  two  lungs, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  heart.  They  are 
mottled  and  dark  with  soot,  showing  that 
their  owner  had  breathed  the  air  of  those 
who  live  in  large  cities. 

At  the  moment  we  have  chosen  to  view 
the  students  at  work  two  of  them  are  examin- 
ing that  wonderful  partition — the  diaphragm 
■ — which  separates  the  chamber  containing 
the  heart  and  lungs  from  the  lower  or  ab- 
dominal cavity  in  which  the  organs  concerned 


HOW  THE  BODY  IS   STUDIED    19 

with  digestion  are  placed.  Thanks  to  the 
discovery  of  Rontgen  these  students  have  a 
decided  advantage  over  their  predecessors  of 
fifteen  years  ago  ;  they  can  see  the  diaphragm, 
which  is  mainly  composed  of  muscle,  actually 
at  work  in  your  body  or  mine.  As  we  take  a 
breath  the  domes  of  the  diaphragm  are  seen 
to  descend,  enlarging  the  cavity  of  the  thorax, 
and  we  see  the  lungs  become  clearer  as  they 
expand  and  are  filled  with  air.  We  can  also 
see  the  dark  shadow  of  the  liver  descending 
below  the  right  dome  of  the  diaphragm  and 
the  transparency  that  marks  the  stomach 
pushed  downwards  under  the  left  dome. 
As  we  allow  our  breath  to  escape  we  see 
the  domes  of  the  diaphragm  again  ascend, 
and  if  we  place  our  hand  on  our  bodies  as 
we  breathe  we  shall  observe  that,  as  the 
diaphragm  ascends,  the  muscles  which  enclose 
the  abdomen  are  at  work,  pressing  the 
viscera  and  the  diaphragm  upwards  and  thus 
returning  the  parts  to  a  proper  position  for 
taking  another  breath.  All  the  muscles 
which  we  now  see  connected  with  the  walls  of 
the  cavities  of  the  thorax  and  abdomen  are 
concerned  in  respiration.  At  the  moment  of 
birth  they  begin  to  work  and  keep  on  unceas- 
ingly all  through  the  years  of  life  until  death 
brings  to  a  final  stop  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
mechanisms  of  the  human  body.  We  have 
not  the  time  now  to  look  at  the  nerves  and 
nerve  centres  which  control  the   muscles   of 


20  THE  HmiAN  BODY 

respiration  and  keep  them  at  work  both  when 
we  sleep  and  when  we  wake. 

There  are  structures  connected  with  diges- 
tion which  we  might  examine,  but  we  must 
postpone  their  consideration  until  another 
opportunity.  It  may  have  occurred,  how- 
ever, to  the  onlooker  that,  since  we  can 
trans-illuminate  the  human  body,  it  is  no 
longer  necessary  to  dissect  it.  Dissection 
is  still  necessary,  for  we  cannot  interpret 
correctly  what  is  seen  when  the  body  is 
lighted  up  under  X-rays  unless  we  already 
possess  an  extremely  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  arrangement  of  parts  as  they  are 
displayed  in  the  human  body  after  death. 

Our  cursory  visit  to  the  dissecting  room  has 
not  been  in  vain  if  the  reader^has  realized 
how  complex  the  structure  of  the  human 
body  really  is,  and  how  necessary  it  is  that 
those  who  have  to  cure  its  disorders  should 
try  to  understand  the  intricacy  of  its  mechan- 
ism. We  have  seen,  however — and  this  is  of 
more  importance  for  our  present  purpose — 
the  manner  in  which  our  knowledge  of  the 
human  body  is  obtained.  What  one  genera- 
tion of  anatomists  has  learned  is  written  in 
books  and  thus  handed  on.  For  more  than 
three  centuries  men  have  studied  the  structure 
of  the  human  body,  and  yet  to-day  there  is 
still  much,  very  much,  which  we  do  not  under- 
stand, but  we  live  and  work  in  the  hope  that 
our  knowledge  will  continue  to  increase. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE   HUMAN   BRAIN 

We  propose  to  visit  the  dissecting  room 
again,  this  time  with  the  definite  purpose  of 
seeing  the  human  brain — that  wonderful 
organ  which  has  hfted  mankind  to  so  high 
an  estate.  We  shall  see  a  structure  which, 
to  all  outward  appearance,  might  have  been 
that  of  a  great  man — one  of  those  who  have 
written  our  plays,  our  novels,  our  philosophies, 
or  who  have  conquered  the  world  by  force, 
by  invention  or  by  sweet  persuasion.  Here, 
on  the  threshold  of  the  medical  school,  a 
confession  must  be  made  of  our  ignorance  : 
no  one,  however  skilled  he  may  be,  can  tell, 
from  merely  surveying  the  brain,  whether  its 
owner  was  a  clever  man  or  a  foolish  one.  The 
day  may  come  when  an  examination  of  the 
brain  will  reveal  its  capacities,  but  we  have 
not  yet  reached  that  position.  Having  made 
this  confession  we  make  our  way  to  a  small 
anatomical  theatre  in  the  school,  and  take  a 
seat  with  the  students  on  the  benches  which 
rise  tier  on  tier,  almost  to  the  roof.  Before 
us  stands  a  white-coated  anatomist ;   he  is  to 

21 


22  THE  HTOIAN  BODY 

give  a  demonstration  on  the  brain,  showing  it 
to  us  in  its  natural  position  within  the  body. 
The  scalp,  in  the  subject  of  demonstration,  is 
folded  back,  and  the  cap  of  the  skull  removed. 
Before  the  brain  can  be  seen,  a  thick  membrane 
(dura  mater),  which  lines  the  interior  of  the 
skull  or  cranial  cavity,  has  also  to  be  turned 
aside,  but  this  is  easily  done,  for  the  brain  is 
merely  in  contact  with  it.  The  chief  part 
of  the  brain  is  thus  exposed — the  part  known 
as  the  cerebrum.  We  note  that  it  occupies 
that  region  of  the  skull  which  lies  above  the 
ear-holes,  and  that  it  extends  forwards  to 
occupy  the  forehead  above  the  orbits  and 
backwards  to  fill  the  projecting  occiput  above 
the  root  of  the  neck.  The  brain  is  wrapped 
in  a  semi-transparent  membrane  through 
which  we  see  a  rich  supply  of  blood  vessels 
on  its  folded  or  convoluted  surface.  Between 
the  folds  and  convolutions  there  are  depres- 
sions and  fissures. 

The  cerebrum  is  divided  into  two  hemi- 
spheres, right  and  left,  a  fact  which  we  could 
not  have  guessed  from  our  inner  consciousness, 
for  we  seem  to  think  as  if  with  one  organ. 
The  anatomist  presses  the  right  and  left 
halves  slightly  apart  and  shows  a  wide  white 
bridge  of  nerve  fibres  (the  corpus  callosum) 
joining  them.  He  further  informs  us  of 
another  mystery — the  right  hemisphere  pre- 
sides over  the  left  half  of  the  body  while 
the  left  hemisphere  is  connected  with  the 


THE  HUIMAN  BRAIN  23 

right  side.  He  narrates  a  case,  to  illus- 
trate the  crossed  relationship  of  brain  and 
body,  which  he  had  seen  some  days  pre- 
viously. The  case  was  that  of  a  working- 
man,  the  subject  of  fits,  in  each  of  which 
he  fell  down  with  the  fingers  of  the  right 
hand  moving  convulsively.  The  surgeon 
marked  out  a  small  area  on  the  left  side 
of  the  patient's  head,  and  operating  there 
found  a  small  tumour  pressing  on  the  under- 
lying part  of  the  brain.  Its  removal  effected 
a  cure.  We  see  then  why  the  surgeon 
operated  on  the  left  hemisphere  when  it 
was  the  right  hand  which  was  affected,  but 
to  realize  how  he  was  guided  to  the  exact 
spot  for  operation  we  must  look  at  the 
surface  of  the  brain  exposed  before  us. 
The  surface  is  thrown  into  convolutions 
separated  from  each  other  by  depressions. 
The  longer  and  deeper  depressions  are 
known  as  fissures.  We  notice  that  the 
main  one — the  fissure  of  Sj^lvius — begins 
on  that  part  of  the  brain  which  lies  just 
behind  the  eye  and  beneath  the  temple  and 
passes  backwards  and  upwards  to  end  some 
distance  above  the  position  of  the  tip  of  the 
ear  (Fig.  1).  The  fissure  of  Sylvius  separates 
the  frontal  and  parietal  lobes  of  the  brain, 
situated  above  the  fissure,  from  the  temporal 
lobe,  which  is  situated  below  it.  Towards  the 
posterior  end  of  the  brain  the  temporal  and 
parietal  lobes  join  with  another  important 


24 


THE  HUMAN  BODY 


lobe — ^the  occipital.  Crossing  the  surface  of 
the  hemisphere  from  above  downwards  and 
separating  the  frontal  from  the  parietal  lobe  is 
a  fissure  of  the  utmost  importance  to  us.     It  is 


FISSURE  or  ROLANDO 

\  f>OST-CENTRAL.  COHWJiJJTIOf* 

^gpCeNrWAL  eONVOL: 


h^  FfTONTAL 
QONVOLl 


Fio.  1. — ^The  main  divisions  of  the  Brain,  showing  some 
of  the  functional  centres. 


the  fissure  of  Rolando  or  central  fissure  (Fig.  1). 
On  the  convolution  in  front  of  the  central  fis- 
sure— the  precentral  convolution — is  situated 
the  area  which  regulates  the  movement  of  the 
arm.     It  was  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  which 


THE  HUMAN  BRAIN  25 

guided  the  surgeon.  The  central  fissure  is  also 
seen  on  the  brains  of  monkeys  ;  in  the  man- 
like apes  or  anthropoids  the  fissure  is  very 
human-like.  Some  forty  years  ago  it  was 
discovered  that  when  the  cortex  or  surface 
layer  of  the  convolution  in  front  of  the  cen- 
tral fissure  was  stimulated  electrically,  the 
unconscious  ape  performed  certain  definite 
movements.  If  the  upper  part  of  the  pre- 
central  convolution  was  thus  called  into 
action  certain  movements  of  the  opposite 
lower  limb  resulted ;  if  the  middle  part, 
motions  in  the  opposite  upper  limb  ;  if  of  the 
lower  part,  movements  of  the  opposite  side  of 
the  face,  lips  and  tongue  could  be  called  forth. 
Further,  it  was  discovered  that  the  parts  of 
the  convolution  behind  the  central  fissure  were 
connected  with  sensations  arisinor  in  corres- 
ponding  parts  of  the  body.  There  are  two 
inferences  which  we  draw  from  these  facts  ; 
(i)  that  the  human  brain  must  be  formed 
on  the  same  type  or  plan  as  that  of  the  ape, 
for  the  medical  man  is  able  to  apply,  in  diag- 
nosing diseases  of  the  brain,  the  knowledge  he 
has  obtained  by  experiments  on  the  ape ; 
(ii)  that  each  part  of  the  brain  has  its  own 
peculiar  function.  Only  the  convolutions 
immediately  in  front  of  the  central  fissure 
give  rise  to  movements  ;  w^hen  other  parts 
are  stimulated  there  is  no  muscular  response. 
Thus  it  is,  that  at  the  present  time  there  are 
large  parts  of  the  brain  whose  function  is 


26  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

unknown — parts  which  we  beheve  serve  for 
memory,  judgment  and  imagination. 

We  must,  however,  keep  our  eyes  on  the 
demonstrator  and  watch  him  as  he  proceeds  to 
show  us  how  the  cerebral  hemispheres  are  con- 
nected with  the  body.  When  they  are  raised 
from  the  floor  or  base  of  the  skull  we  see  a  great 
stem — the  brain  stem — issuing  from  them  ; 
in  size  it  is  about  the  thickness  of  a  baby's 
wrist.  When  this  is  cut  through  the  cerebrum 
can  be  lifted  away,  and  we  note  the  remarkable 
fact  that  only  one  pair  of  nerves  end  directly 
in  the  hemispheres,  namely,  the  olfactory  or 
nerves  of  smell.  The  optic  nerves  from  the 
eye  are  now  visible  ;  they  encircle  and  seem 
to  end  on  the  back  of  the  brain  stem.  Im- 
pressions arising  in  the  eye — -the  sensations 
caused  by  light-^pass  first  to  the  brain-stem, 
but  from  their  termination  other  nerve  paths 
are  provided  which  can  be  traced  into  the 
cerebral  hemisphere  towards  the  posterior  or 
occipital  lobes.  The  occipital  cortex  in  which 
the  paths  end  are  known  to  subserve  the 
functions  of  sight ;  blindness  is  produced 
when  they  are  destroyed  by  disease.  When 
the  cerebral  hemispheres  are  removed  from 
the  head  it  is  seen  that  their  posterior  parts  did 
not  rest  on  the  base  of  the  skull  as  the  frontal 
and  temporal  lobes  did,  but  on  a  fibrous 
partition.  When  the  anatomist  removes  the 
partition  we  see  beneath  it  a  minor  com- 
partment which  contains  the  cerebellum  and 


THE  HinVIAN  BRAIN  27 

the  continuation  of  the  stem  of  the  brain. 
The  cerebellum  is  implanted  on  the  upper  or 
posterior  aspect  of  the  stem,  and  we  note  that 
it  is  only  about  a  ninth  part  of  the  cerebrum 
in  point  of  size,  and  that  its  substance  is  not 
convoluted,  but  is  thrown  into  leaflets.  Until 
a  few  years  ago  the  wildest  guesses  were 
made  regarding  the  function  of  the  cerebellum. 
Phrenologists  place  the  centre  for  amativeness 
on  that  part  of  the  head  which  overlies  it. 
Its  exact  function  is  not  known,  but  we  are 
certain  it  is  not  the  seat  of  our  consciousness, 
nor  of  our  higher  faculties  ;  there  is  evidence 
now  to  show  that  it  is  an  automatic  mechan- 
ism for  regulating  and  co-ordinating  our 
muscles  when  they  are  in  action. 

Before  the  cerel3ellum  and  the  stem  of  the 
brain  can  be  lifted  out  and  shown  to  us,  the 
anatomist  finds  it  necessary  to  divide  the 
continuation  of  the  latter  as  it  escapes  from  the 
skull  to  enter  the  canal  of  the  backbone,  where 
it  changes  its  name  and  is  known  as  the  spinal 
cord.  Even  if  we  did  not  see  the  stem  of  the 
brain  and  the  spinal  cord  in  their  natural  posi- 
tion in  the  body  we  could  tell  where  the  one 
ended  and  the  other  began.  In  the  spinal  cord 
the  nerves  (31  pairs  of  them)  arise  from  its  sides 
by  two  roots,  one  posterior,  the  other  anterior 
in  position.  In  the  stem  of  the  brain  they 
arise  irregularlj^  some  of  them  corresponding 
to  the  line  of  origin  of  the  posterior  roots  of  the 
spinal  nerves,  some  to  the  anterior  roots,  while 


28  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

others  arise  in  an  intermediate  line.  In  1811, 
exactly  a  century  ago,  a  young  Scotsman  of 
the  name  of  Charles  Bell  made  a  very  great 
discovery  relating  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
nerves  arise.  While  waiting  in  London  for 
patients,  he  opened  a  private  school  in  Soho 
for  teaching  medical  students  the  anatomy  of 
the  body.  He  wished  to  explain  to  them 
why  the  brain  was  divided  into  cerebrum, 
cerebellum,  and  stem,  and  why  the  nerves 
arose  in  one  manner  from  the  stem  and  in 
another  manner  from  the  spinal  cord.  His 
difficulty  was  due  to  the  fact  that  in  his  day 
anatomists  supposed  the  brain  to  be  the  seat 
of  mind,  will,  and  consciousness.  The  brain 
they  thought  worked  as  a  whole  and  could 
despatch  or  receive  a  message  by  any  nerve. 
Bell  came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  supposi- 
tion must  be  wrong ;  there  must  be  an 
explanation  for  the  division  of  the  brain  into 
parts  and  for  the  complex  manner  in  which 
nerves  arose.  Two  reflections  put  him  on  the 
track  of  his  great  discovery.  Bell  did  not 
know  what  we  have  seen,  that  stimulation  of 
part  of  the  brain  gave  rise  to  muscular  move- 
ments, but  he  did  know  that  there  was  a 
nerve  track  which  descended  from  the  cere- 
brum to  the  spinal  cord  through  the  brain-stem. 
He  guessed  it  was  by  this  nerve  path  that  the 
will  exercised  its  dominion  over  muscles,  and 
he  noted  that  it  descended  in  the  front  part 
of  the  cord — the  part  from  which  the  anterior 


THE  HUMAN  BRAIN  29 

roots  arise.  He  concluded  that  the  anterior 
roots  must  also  be  for  carrying  messages  to 
muscles.  He  stimulated  the  anterior  root 
in  a  living  animal  and  found  the  muscles 
supplied  from  it  were  thrown  into  action.  He 
therefore  supposed  the  anterior  part  of  the 
spinal  cord  and  stem  of  the  brain  must  be 
for  producing  movements  and  all  the  nerves 
which  arise  from  their  anterior  parts  must  be 
motor  nerves.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
nerves  of  sight  ended  on  the  posterior  part  of 
the  stem  of  the  brain.  Bell  inferred  from 
this  fact  that  the  posterior  parts  of  the  stem 
and  of  the  spinal  cord  must  be  connected  with 
sensation,  for  the  optic  nerve  is  purely  for 
conveying  impressions  from  the  eye  to  the 
brain.  He  inferred  that  the  posterior  roots 
of  the  spinal  nerves  which  end  in  the  posterior 
part  of  the  cord  must  be  for  conveying  impres- 
sions from  the  body  to  the  brain.  They  are 
the  sensory  roots.  He  stimulated  them  in 
living  animals,  no  movements  in  the  muscles 
were  produced.  Bell  thus  made  the  discovery 
not  only  that  the  roots  of  a  spinal  nerve 
were  different  in  function,  but  the  more 
important  one  that  the  anterior  part  of  the 
great  nerve  stem  was  for  motion  and  that  the 
posterior  parts  were  connected  with  sensation. 
We  have  seen  that  some  nerves  arise  from  the 
brain-stem  neither  in  line  with  the  posterior 
nor  with  the  anterior  roots  but  from  an  inter- 
mediate  line.     Bell   inferred   they   must   be 


so  TPIE  HUMAN  BODY 

peculiar  in  function  because  they  were  pecu- 
liar in  their  origin.  Time  has  proved  that  in 
this  he  was  also  right ;  seventy  years  later 
Dr.  Gaskell,  of  Cambridge,  found  that  these 
nerves  (ninth,  tenth  and  eleventh  pairs  of 
cranial  nerves)  are  difierent  in  nature.  They 
supply  the  heart,  lungs  and  other  viscera. 
They  are  visceral  nerves  ;  over  these  the  will 
has  no  control. 

Having  thus  shown  us  the  chief  parts  of 
man's  nervous  system — the  cerebrum,  cere- 
bellum, brain-stem,  spinal  cord  and  nerves, 
our  friend  the  anatomist  returns  to  the  part 
he  commenced  with — the  cerebral  hemisphere 
— ^in  order  that  we  may  see  some  of  the  pecu- 
liar features  of  the  human  brain.  We  wish 
especially  to  see  that  part  of  the  brain  which 
is  connected  with  speech,  for  of  all  man's  gifts 
that  of  language  is  the  most  remarkable.  A 
clever  parrot  or  a  mynah  bird  may  have  a 
voice  and  a  power  of  imitation,  but  they  cannot 
be  said  to  have  the  power  to  receive  and  con- 
vey thought ;  only  a  human  brain  has  that 
power.  We  have  already  been  shown  that 
the  convolution  of  the  brain  which  controls 
the  movements  of  the  lips  and  tongue  is 
situated  in  front  of  the  lower  end  of  the 
central  fissure  (Fig.  1,  p.  24).  We  might  have 
guessed  that  the  convolution  which  serves 
in  speech — the  inferior  frontal  convolution 
— would  be  close  by.  It  is  a  little  way 
further  forwards.      Its  exact  position  in  the 


THE   HUMAN  BRAIN  81 

head  is  indicated  when  a  finger  is  placed 
on  the  left  temple,  about  an  inch  behind  the 
upper  margin  of  the  orbit.  The  inferior  frontal 
convolution  is  situated  on  the  anterior  margin 
of  the  deepest  depression  or  fissure  of  the 
human  brain — the  Sylvian  fissure,  named  after 
Sylvius,  who  taught  anatomy  in  Paris  during 
the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  Broca, 
working  in  Paris  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  who  discovered  that  the 
inferior  frontal  convolution  of  the  left  side 
was  connected  with  speech.  The  deep  fissure 
of  Sylvius,  as  we  have  seen,  passes  backwards 
and  upwards  on  the  side  of  the  cerebral  hemi- 
sphere; below  it  is  the  temporal  lobe  of  the 
brain  in  the  upper  part  of  which  the  centre  for 
hearing  is  situated  (Fig.  1).  There  is  a  con- 
nexion or  pathway  between  the  hearing  and 
speech  centres,  for  if  we  are  deaf  we  must 
necessarily  be  dumb  ;  the  child  listens  as  it 
imitates  its  mother's  voice. 

The  chief  features  of  the  human  nervous 
system  having  been  thus  demonstrated  to  us, 
we  take  our  leave  of  the  students  and  of  the 
anatomical  theatre,  but  before  making  our 
exit  from  the  medical  school  we  may  turn  aside 
for  a  minute  to  examine  some  specimens  in 
its  museum.  In  an  out-of-the-way  corner 
we  come  across  the  cast  of  a  cleanly  shaven 
head,  mapped  out  into  sixty  little  plots,  accord- 
ing to  the  instructions  of  Dr.  Gall,  Avho  founded 
the  study  of  phrenology  at  the  beginning  of 


32  .     THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  nineteenth  century.  We  notice  that  he 
has  placed  the  organ  of  hope  on  that  part  of 
the  head  which  Hes  over  the  convolution 
connected  with  the  movements  of  the  body  ; 
the  organ  of  amativeness  is  situated  on  the 
region  of  the  cerebellum,  while  that  of  con- 
structiveness  is  placed  over  the  inferior  frontal 
convolution.  We  see  that  there  is  no  corre- 
spondence between  Gall's  doctrine  of 
phrenology  and  our  modern  knowledge  of  the 
brain.  Yet  to  this  extent  Gall  was  right ;  the 
various  parts  of  the  brain  have  their  own  parti- 
cular function.  The  day  may  come  when  by 
looking  at  the  brain  or  even  at  the  skull  which 
encloses  it,  we  shall  be  able  to  tell  the  capabili- 
ties of  a  child  or  man,  but  we  have  not  yet 
reached  that  point.  Even  should  that  day  come 
it  is  improbable  that  the  phrenologist  will  be 
able  to  tell  character  as  well  as  the  ordinary 
man  who  merely  observes  the  expression  of  the 
face,  the  tone  of  the  words,  the  actions  and  the 
deeds  of  the  person  under  observation.  It 
is  true  that  a  wide  and  high  forehead,  indicat- 
ing great  development  of  the  frontal  lobes  of 
the  brain  does  incline  us  to  anticipate  capacity 
in  a  man,  yet  we  are  often  mistaken  ;  we 
have  known  men  of  unquestioned  ability  with 
low  and  narrow  foreheads.  Even  the  size  of 
the  brain  is  not  a  safe  indication.  In  most 
cases  one  can  form  a  fairly  accurate  opinion 
of  the  size  of  the  brain  from  the  dimensions  of 
the  head.   In  the  average  man  the  skull  and  the 


THE  HUIVIAN  BRAIN  33 

soft  parts  covering  it  do  not  vary  in  thickness 
so  much  as  to  upset  our  calculations  as  to  its 
size  or  volume.  It  is  true  that  the  chambers 
or  ventricles  ^vithin  the  brain  may  be  dilated 
and  thus  give  the  brain  a  false  size,  but  that 
is  not  a  common  condition.  The  size  of  the 
brain  depends  to  a  certain  extent  on  the  bulk 
of  the  body ;  tall  men  on  the  average  have 
larger  brains  than  small  men,  just  as  a  New- 
foundland dog  has  a  bigger  brain  than  a 
fox-terrier.  The  increase  of  brain  which  is 
directly  due  to  increase  in  size  of  body  gives  no 
increase  of  brain  power  ;  hence  tall  and  bulky 
men  are  not  necessarily  more  able  than  small 
and  short  men.  Thus,  although  we  cannot 
argue  that  because  a  man  has  a  big  brain  he  is 
a  man  of  great  capacity,  yet  the  fact  remains 
that  many  of  the  world's  most  famous  men  had 
large  heads  and  big  brains.  In  the  average 
Englishman  the  brain  weighs  1,360  grammes  ^ 
(forty-eight  ounces) ;  in  Cromwell  it  is  said 
to  have  been  2,231  grammes  and  in  Byron 
2,238  grammes.  In  Gambetta,  the  French 
statesman,  it  weighed  only  1,294  grammes. 
Still,  if  size  of  brain  is  not  a  certain  index  of 
capacity,  it  must  be  taken  into  account ; 
Broca  found  when  he  compared  the  brains  of 
a  group  of  eminent  men  with  those  of  men  of 
ordinary  ability  that  the  average  eminent 
man  had  a  brain  eighty  grammes  above  the 
ordinary.  When  the  sexes  are  compared  it 
1  An  ounce  is  equal  to  28*3  grammes, 
C 


84  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

is  found  that  the  brain  in  man  is  130  grammes 
more  than  in  woman  on  the  average.  Woman's 
smaller  brain  is  due  chiefly  to  her  smaller 
body,  for  we  have  seen  that  size  of  body  has 
a  direct  influence  on  the  size  of  brain.  What- 
ever view  may  be  held  as  to  the  equality  of  the 
sexes,  woman  cannot  be  disqualified  on  account 
of  the  size  of  her  brain.  Therefore  we  must 
admit  that  size  is  not  a  valuable  index  of 
capacity,  and  the  same  must  be  admitted  as 
regards  shape.  Certain  American  Indian  tribes 
distort  their  heads  and  brains  by  the  applica- 
tion of  bandages  in  infancy  and  yet  their 
mental  capacity  does  not  seem  to  be  in  any 
way  affected.  We  see,  too,  that  the  human 
head  varies  much  in  shape  ;  in  some  it  is 
narrow  and  long  ;  in  others  broad  and  short ; 
in  others  short  and  high  or  long  and  low.  The 
long  and  narrow  head  is  common  in  England  ; 
the  broad  and  short  head  in  Germany  and 
France,  and  yet,  as  far  as  we  know,  the  brain 
which  is  within  the  short  and  wide  skull  has 
no  advantage  over  the  one  within  the  narrow 
and  long  head.  Thus  all  attempts  to  read 
character  and  mental  capacity  by  examining 
the  outward  form  of  the  head  or  of  the  brain 
have  so  far  been  in  vain. 

Before  leaving  the  museum  of  the  medical 
school  there  is  another  group  of  specimens 
we  ought  to  examine,  namely,  those  which 
show  how  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  are  formed 
during  the  early  stages  in  the  development 


THE  HUMAN  BRAIN  35 

of  the  human  body.  The  early  stages  of  the 
human  embryo  are  represented  by  accurate 
models  in  which  the  various  parts  are  greatly 
magnified.  During  the  early  part  of  the  third 
week  of  development  the  brain  and  spinal 
cord  are  seen  as  part  of  the  covering  or  epi- 
dermis on  the  upper  surface  of  the  embryo ; 
the  area  of  epidermis  which  forms  the  future 
nerve  system  is  oblong  in  shape.  In  a  model 
showing  a  slightly  older  stage  the  oblong  area 
has  become  depressed  to  form  a  trough ; 
presently  the  edges  of  the  trough  come  together, 
the  margins  of  the  embryonic  skin  closing  over 
the  nerve  trough,  which  now  forms  a  tube  en- 
closed in  the  back  or  dorsal  side  of  the  embryo. 
The  front  or  head  part  of  the  tube  forms  the 
brain  ;  the  hinder  part  forms  the  spinal  cord. 
By  the  third  month  two  outgrowths  are  evolved 
from  the  brain  part  of  the  tube  ;  one  of  these 
forms  the  cerebrum  ;  the  other  the  cerebellum. 
To  one  who  is  unfamiliar  with  the  facts  of 
embryology  it  must  seem  a  preposterous 
thing  to  suppose  that  our  brains  can  have 
been  evolved  from  a  modification  of  an  area  of 
skin.  Still  these  are  the  facts  of  development ; 
how  otherwise  can  they  be  explained  except  by 
supposing  our  brains  are  areas  of  the  body- 
covering  which  have  been  modified  ?  Children 
are  frequently  born,  as  may  be  seen  from 
specimens  in  medical  museums,  where  the 
nerve  plate  has  never  been  folded  in  but  remains 
spread  out  on  the  surface  and  merging  at  its 


86  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

edges  into  the  skin  of  the  back  and  of  the  head. 
In  such  cases  we  see  in  the  human  body  a 
hark-back  to  a  condition  that  must  have  been 
represented  in  very  low  forms  of  animal  life 
at  an  early  stage  of  the  world's  history.  That 
marvellous  structure,  the  human  brain,  is  the 
product  of  millions  of  years  ;  its  history  begins 
with  life  itself,  millions  upon  millions  of  years 
ago. 

When  the  reader  leaves  that  strange  place, 
a  medical  school,  to  which  we  have  tried  to 
introduce  him,  and  emerges  on  the  street 
to  see  men  busy  and  energetic  in  all  the  affairs 
of  life  he  will  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that 
there  is  aught  in  common  between  man's  brain 
and  that  of  any  other  animal  created.  As  he 
walks  along,  however,  he  will  notice  how  men 
differ ;  a  man  here  and  there  has  a  brain 
weight  of  2,000  grammes,  and  perhaps  a  cor- 
responding ability ;  another  has  perhaps  only 
1000  grammes  ;  in  seeking  for  man's  allies  it 
is  not  the  highest  but  the  lowest  human  types 
we  must  use  as  a  starting-point.  Amongst 
Australian  aborigines  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
find  a  woman  with  a  brain  weight  of  1000 
grammes  or  even  less.  When  it  is  added 
that  the  gorilla,  the  chimpanzee,  the  orang, 
have  brain  weights  that  vary  from  300  to  500 
grammes  he  will  conclude  that  there  is  a  vast 
difference  in  even  weight  between  man  and 
the  great  anthropoids.  There  is  a  great  gulf, 
but  it  is  not  a  fixed  one.     A  fossil  form  of  man. 


THE  HUMAN   BRAIN  37 

Pithecanthropus  it  is  named,  had  a  brain  which 
in  point  of  size  is  intermediate  between  that 
of  modern  man  and  the  gorilla's.  There  is  an 
equally  great  gap  between  the  great  anthro- 
poids— ^the  gorilla,  chimpanzee  and  orang 
— and  the  small  anthropoids — the  gibbons. 
If  instead  of  comparing  grown  up  men  and 
anthropoids  we  compare  them  both  at  birth 
the  difference  is  less.  At  birth  the  human 
brain  weighs  about  800  grammes,  about  one- 
fifth  of  the  weight  it  ultimately  reaches  ;  the 
brains  of  the  anthropoids  are  only  slightly 
less,  200  to  300  grammes.  Thus,  while 
man's  brain  is  only  about  one-fifth  of  its 
adult  weight  at  birth,  that  of  the  anthropoid  is 
already  two-thirds.  Man  has  to  be  sheltered 
and  educated  ;  the  anthropoid  baby  has  ta 
face  the  realities  of  life  soon  after  birth. 
When  we  survey  man  and  the  anthro- 
poids at  birth,  the  brain  difference  does  not 
seem  an  insuperable  barrier  between  them. 
Indeed,  in  all  mammals  the  brain  grows 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  rest  of  the  body  ; 
this  is  especially  the  case  in  man.  By  the  end 
of  the  second  year  the  human  brain  has  reached 
two-thirds  of  its  adult  size,  it  has  then  reached 
the  same  relative  degree  of  development  that 
the  anthropoid  has  reached  at  birth.  There  is 
another  peculiar  fact  about  the  growth  of  the 
human  brain  ;  it  has  reached  its  maximum 
size  by  the  twentieth  year.  After  the 
twentieth  year,   or  even   a  little   before,   it 


38  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

begins  to  lose  in  weight  and  goes  on  losing  until 
old  age,  when  the  decrease  becomes  more 
rapid.  As  Professor  Karl  Pearson  has  said, 
man's  prime  is  not  a  period,  it  is  merely  a 
point  of  time. 


CHAPTER   III 

man's  place  amongst  animals 

Most  men  are  not  aware  of  the  toil  and  trouble 
zoologists  have  taken  to  name  and  number 
the  animals  of  the  earth  and  to  arrange 
them  in  groups  according  to  the  manner 
in  which  their  bodies  are  made.  We  know 
the  commoner  animals  as  they  come  before 
us,  but  do  not  trouble  about  the  relation- 
ship of  one  beast  to  another.  As  regards 
man,  he  seems  to  us  so  very  different  to 
all  the  common  animal  forms  that  we  can- 
not believe  him  to  be  related  to  them  at  all, 
but  prefer  to  regard  him  as  standing  isolated 
and  alone,  as  a  being  of  a  peculiar  order. 
When,  however,  we  begin  to  study  his  body 
and  compare  it,  organ  by  organ,  with  that  of 
other  animals,  we  see  that  his  isolation  dis- 
appears, and  that  it  is  the  thick  veil  of  civili- 
zation in  which  he  has  so  completely  hidden 
himself  that  misleads  us  regarding  his  true 
position  in  the  animal  kingdom.  The  reader 
will  see  that  I  am  preparing  his  mind  for  the 
kind  of  evidence  to  be  produced  in  this 
chapter — evidence  as  to  "  Man's  place  in 
Nature,"  as  Huxley  happily  named  it  in  his 

39 


40  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

celebrated  book  published  in  1863.  We 
propose  to  visit  an  institution  in  which  Huxley 
loved  to  work  and  to  lecture,  namely,  the 
Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of 
England,  situated  right  in  the  heart  of  London 
on  the  south  side  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields. 
The  museum  has  a  history ;  its  foundation 
was  laid  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  by  the  great  surgeon,  John  Hunter, 
one  of  the  very  greatest  men  this  country  has 
ever  produced.  He  was  centuries  ahead  of 
his  time,  and  hence  he  is  not  yet  properly 
appreciated.  The  hours  he  could  steal  from 
work  and  sleep  he  devoted  to  the  study  of  all 
forms  of  life ;  but  instead  of  describing  on 
paper  what  he  saw  and  discovered,  he  left  the 
actual  specimens  themselves — all  duly  pre- 
served, to  tell  their  own  stories  to  future 
generations.  Since  his  day  men  like  Sir 
Richard  Owen  and  Sir  William  Flower  have 
added  to  and  tended  Hunter's  priceless 
collection,  so  that  here  we  can  study  the 
evidence  afforded  by  man's  body  better  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.  Hunter's  in- 
variable method  was  to  commence  with  the 
simplest  and  lowest  forms  of  life  and  work 
gradually  through  the  more  complex  which 
led  on  to  the  highest — man  himself.  As  we 
enter  the  museum  it  soon  becomes  evident 
that  it  will  answer  our  present  purpose  best  to 
reverse  Hunter's  order,  and  in  each  instance 
commence  with  the  human  form. 


MAN'S  PLACE  AMONGST  ANBIALS    41 

As  we  pass  through  the  first  and  second 
rooms  of  the  museum  we  see  the  skulls  and 
skeletons  of  all  races  of  mankind,  European, 
Asiatic,  American,  African  and  Australian, 
in  case  after  case,  but  only  the  practised  eye 
picks  out  the  peculiar  features  of  each  race ; 
as  far  as  the  evidence  of  the  skeleton  goes 
mankind  appears  to  be  a  very  uniform 
species.  It  is  in  the  third  room  that  the  first 
real  break  is  encountered,  where  the  human 
series  ends  and  the  anthropoid  skeletons  begin. 
The  skeleton  of  the  gorilla  is  not  at  all  human 
in  appearance,  the  great  crests  on  the  skull, 
the  massive  jaws  and  face,  the  long  stout  arms, 
the  short  lower  limbs  with  a  thumb-like  great 
toe,  seem  to  assure  us  that  even  the  most 
man-like  of  apes  is  a  long  way  off  from  man 
himself.  Yet  when  we  look  more  closely  we  see 
that  every  bone  of  man's  body  is  present  in 
the  gorilla,  they  occupy  exactly  the  same 
place  in  the  skeleton  ;  each  bone  shows  the 
same  leading  features ;  the  differences  relate 
merely  to  proportion,  size  and  detail.  When 
we  look  at  the  skull  of  the  young  gorilla, 
before  the  massive,  brute-like  crests  have 
appeared,  the  human  resemblance  is  more 
marked.  In  the  skulls  of  the  adult  chim- 
panzee, these  cranial  ridges,  which  are 
developed  to  give  attachment  to  the  great 
muscles  of  mastication,  are  much  smaller 
than  in  the  gorilla.  In  the  orang  they  are 
intermediate  in  size.     They  are  much  larger 


42  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

in  the  male  than  in  the  female  anthropoids. 
The  gorilla  and  chimpanzee  are  from  Africa ; 
the  orang  from  Borneo  and  Sumatra,  It  is 
thus  in  the  forests  of  the  tropical  parts  of 
the  earth  that  we  find  the  animals  which 
most  nearly  resemble  man  in  structure. 
There  are  various  races  of  gorillas,  chimpanzees 
and  orangs,  just  as  there  are  various  races  of 
mankind,  each  race  being  a  native  of  its  own 
peculiar  district  or  country. 

Passing  from  the  cases  containing  the 
skulls  and  skeletons  of  the  three  great  an- 
thropoids to  those  in  which  the  small  anthro- 
poids— the  gibbons — are  contained,  we  note 
another  break  in  the  series,  quite  as  marked 
as  the  one  between  man  and  the  great 
anthropoids.  The  head  and  body  are  much 
smaller ;  there  are  the  same  bones  set 
together  in  the  same  order  but  the  proportions 
are  different.  There  are  numerous  races  of 
gibbons  scattered  through  the  forests  of  the 
far  East,  from  China  in  the  north  to  Java  in  the 
south.  In  the  series  of  cases  which  follow, 
containing  first  the  skeletons  of  the  many 
kinds  of  monkeys  of  the  Old  World  and  then 
those  of  the  New  World,  we  are  made  aware 
of  the  impossibility  of  representing  animals 
in  their  right  relationship  by  grouping  them 
one  after  another  in  a  single  file.  To  be  right, 
there  ought  to  be  a  double  or  a  triple  file  here, 
one  for  the  Old  World  monkeys,  another  for 
those  of  America,  and  an  intermediate  one  for 


MAN'S  PLACE  AMONGST  ANIMALS    43 

the  gibbons.  Between  the  gibbons  and  the 
monkeys  there  is  a  wider  gulf  than  any  we  have 
so  far  seen,  yet  we  cannot  well  say  the  one  is 
higher  than  the  other.  In  certain  features 
we  see  that  the  gibbons  are  related  to  the 
Old- World  monkeys,  in  others  to  those  of  the 
New  World ;  we  believe  that  there  must  be 
extinct  ancestral  gibbons  which,  did  we  know 
them,  would  show  us  that  these  three  forms 
of  primates  have  all  arisen  from  a  common 
stock  at  a  long  past  period  of  the  world's 
history.  It  is  the  American  monkeys  which 
interest  us  most,  because  amongst  them 
we  find  quite  small  and  low  forms,  such  as 
the  marmoset,  which  takes  us  a  little  way 
towards  the  kind  of  animals  shown  in  the 
museum  cases  following  those  containing  the 
monkeys — the  lemurs.  Between  the  marmo- 
sets and  the  lemurs,  however,  is  a  much 
wider  gap  than  we  have  yet  tried  to  cross ;  we 
realize  that  we  are  passing  from  one  order 
of  animals  to  another,  from  the  primates 
to  the  primatoids.  Beyond  this  point  in 
the  animal  scale  we  do  not  intend  to  pass. 
If  at  first  we  had  seen  the  skeleton  of  man 
placed  side  by  side  with  that  of  the  tiny 
marmoset  we  would  have  denied  that  there 
could  be  any  possibility  of  a  common  origin 
for  these  two,  but  when  we  pass  from  the  one 
to  the  other  through  a  series  which,  while 
showing  many  breaks,  leads  us  step  by  step 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  we  begin  to  see 


44  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

that  the  miracle  of  man's  primate  origin  is  not 
so  impossible  as  it  appears  at  first.  We  note, 
too,  that  the  links  which  we  miss  most  lie, 
not  between  man  and  his  nearest  allies, 
but  between  the  gibbon  and  the  monkeys 
grouped  near  it. 

Leaving  the  rooms  in  which  the  skeletons 
are  shown  we  make  our  way  to  another  in 
which  the  teeth  of  all  kinds  of  animals  are 
displayed,  in  order  that  we  may  ascertain 
what  guidance  they  can  give  us  regarding 
man's  place  in  the  animal  scale.  In  the  first 
place  we  examine  the  dentitions  of  young 
children  ;  in  the  upper,  as  in  the  lower  jaw, 
we  observe  that  twenty  teeth  are  already 
erupted  ;  of  the  twenty,  eight  are  cutting  or 
incisor  teeth  ;  four  are  canine  or  eye-teeth ; 
eight  are  grinding  or  molar  teeth.  The 
teeth  just  enumerated  form  the  milk  set. 
Embedded  in  the  bone  beneath  the  gum  we 
see  the  permanent  teeth  in  process  of  forma- 
tion ;  there  are  sixteen  in  each  jaw.  Of  the 
thirty-two  permanent  teeth,  twenty  take  the 
place  of  the  milk  teeth,  the  eight  milk  molars 
being  replaced  by  teeth  of  a  different  type — • 
the  premolars.  The  permanent  molars,  twelve 
in  number,  are  added  to  the  milk  set.  To 
make  room  for  them  a  growth  takes  place  in 
the  jaws  which  leads  to  the  marked  changes 
we  see  taking  place  in  the  face  during  child- 
hood and  adolescence.  The  four  first  molar 
teeth  erupt  about  the  fifth  year,  the  four 


MAN'S  PLACE  AMONGST  ANIjMALS    45 

second,  about  the  fourteenth  year ;  the  four 
third  molars  or  wisdom  teeth  are  most 
irregular  in  their  appearance  in  us  Europeans  ; 
they  may  cut  at  any  time  between  the  twen- 
tieth and  the  fortieth  year,  and  in  a  consider- 
able number  of  people  they  never  erupt 
at  all. 

In  the  anthropoids  the  third  molars 
always  come  into  use ;  in  the  males  they 
erupt  with  or  even  before  the  canine  teeth. 
The  canine  teeth  of  the  male  anthropoids 
are  large  and  need  a  considerable  nmnber 
of  months  to  reach  their  full  growi:h  after 
they  have  pierced  the  gum.  While  the 
permanent  teeth  of  anthropoids  are  all 
in  place  by  the  fourteenth  year,  the  human 
dentition,  even  in  primitive  races  of  mankind, 
is  not  complete  until  the  twentieth  year, 
and  as  we  have  just  seen,  in  European  and 
civilized  races  the  period  of  completion 
may  be  delayed  until  quite  late  in  life.  In 
primitive  races,  as  was  also  the  case  in 
ancient  Europeans,  the  wisdom  teeth  never 
fail  to  erupt.  It  is  only  in  European  or 
civilized  races  that  there  is  a  marked  tendency 
to  a  suppression  of  the  last  or  most  posterior 
of  the  molar  teeth.  There  is  also  a  tendency 
for  an  arrest  of  the  gro"\\i:h  of  the  jaws  in  the 
same  races.  Civilization  appears  to  be  exer- 
cising a  deteriorating  influence  on  human 
teeth  and  jaws.  It  seems  as  if  our  wisdom 
teeth  had  become  unnecessary,  and  that  in 


46  THE  HIBIAN  BODY 

this  matter  our  dental  constitution  is  out  of 
keeping  with  our  present-day  needs. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  does  occasionally 
see  in  the  skulls  of  native  Australians  and  of 
other  native  races,  an  extra  or  fourth  molar 
added.  A  supernumerary  molar  is  frequently 
seen  in  the  dentitions  of  orangs  and  gorillas. 
These  extra  molars  do  not  appear  to  be 
reversions  to  a  former  condition,  but  are 
really  of  the  nature  of  a  progressive  adaptation. 

As  we  pass  from  the  human  specimens  to 
those  illustrating  the  anthropoid  dentitions, 
noting  as  we  go  the  large  teeth  and  strong 
jaws  of  native  races — such  as  the  Australian 
and  Oceanic  aborigines — we  are  at  once 
impressed  with  the  massive  jaws  of  man's 
nearest  allies.  They  project  forwards  to  form 
a  decided  muzzle.  In  the  infant  anthropoids, 
however,  we  note  the  same  twenty  milk 
teeth,  arranged  as  in  the  maxillae  of  the 
human  child ;  in  the  adolescent  anthropoids 
we  see  the  same  number  of  permanent  teeth 
coming  into  position  as  in  human  jaws. 
The  wisdom  teeth  appear  as  soon  as  or  even 
before  the  canine  teeth.  It  is  the  canine 
teeth  which  characterize  the  anthropoid 
dentition  ;  instead  of  occupying  a  place  in 
the  regular  series  they  project  above  their 
neighbours  as  conical  tusks.  They  are  much 
larger  in  the  males  than  in  the  females  ;  they 
are  especially  small  in  the  female  chimpanzees  ; 
the  canines  of  the  milk  set  are  much  less 


MAN'S   PLACE  AJMONGST  ANI:MALS    47 

prominent  than  the  canines  of  the  permanent 
set.  We  observe,  farther,  that  the  cusps 
of  the  crowns,  and  the  fangs  of  the  roots 
of  the  teeth  are  arranged  on  the  same  plan  as 
in  man ;  the  differences  are  chiefly  those  of 
detail.  In  the  small  anthropoid  or  gibbon  the 
number  of  teeth  in  each  set  is  the  same 
as  in  the  large  anthropoids ;  the  gibbon's 
teeth  are  much  smaller,  with  the  exception 
of  the  canine  teeth,  which  are  especially  long 
and  sharp  in  both  males  and  females. 

When,  however,  we  come  to  examine  the 
teeth  in  monkeys  we  see  many  points  of 
difference.  In  the  Old  World  monkeys  the 
number  of  teeth  in  both  the  permanent  and 
milk  dentitions  remains  the  same  as  in  man,  but 
the  cusps  of  the  molar  teeth  are  arranged  on  a 
totally  different  principle.  In  the  New  World 
monkeys  the  cusps  of  the  teeth  are  arranged 
as  in  man  and  the  anthropoids,  but  the 
number  of  teeth  is  different.  They  have 
twelve  instead  of  eight  premolar  teeth. 
We  have  reason  to  believe  that  primates  had 
originally  sixteen  premolar  teeth ;  the 
American  monkeys  have  lost  four,  while 
man,  the  anthropoids  and  Old  World  monkeys 
have  lost  eight  of  the  original  number. 
Occasionally  we  see  an  extra  premolar  appear 
in  the  human  dentition.  If  we  were  to  fix 
man's  position  among  animals  by  the  evidence 
of  his  teeth  alone,  we  should  place  him  on 
one  side  of  the  great  anthropoids,  and  the 


48  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

gibbon,  at  about  the  same  distance,  on  the 
other  side  of  them,  but  all  three  included 
in  the  same  group.  In  another  group  of 
equal  value  to  the  one  just  mentioned  must 
be  placed  the  Old  World  monkeys,  while  a 
third  would  contain  the  American  monkeys. 
Having  surveyed  the  evidence  afforded 
by  the  teeth  displayed  in  the  odontological 
room  we  move  to  the  galleries  of  the 
museum,  where  we  shall  find  Hunter  at  his 
very  best.  The  preparations  are  grouped  to 
show  how  the  various  functions  of  the  animal 
body  are  carried  out — ^the  organs  for  loco- 
motion, the  organs  of  circulation,  of  respiration, 
for  reproduction  and  for  the  purposes  of  sense 
and  nerve  action.  In  every  series  the 
preparations  begin  with  organs  selected  from 
the  lowest  forms  of  life  ;  each  series  is  arranged 
to  show  the  various  steps  which  lead  on  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest.  The  particular 
specimens  we  wish  to  examine  at  present  are 
those  which  digest  the  food  and  absorb 
nutrition — ^the  stomach,  the  bowel,  and  the 
various  glands  connected  with  digestion  such 
as  the  liver  and  pancreas.  We  see  at  once 
that  these  organs  are  similar  in  shape  and 
arrangement  in  man,  the  great  anthropoids, 
and  in  the  gibbon,  but  when  we  pass  down 
the  series  to  the  organs  which  represent  the 
monkeys  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  World, 
we  see  that  the  arrangement  of  the  viscera 
in  the  abdomen  is  different,  and  even  the 


]\IAN'S  PLACE  AIMONGST  ANI]\IALS    49 

shapes  of  the  organs  are  altered.  It  is  true 
that  in  the  liver  of  the  gorilla  we  note  deep 
indentations  or  fissures  which  are  absent  from 
this  organ  in  other  anthropoids  and  in  man  ; 
we  see  in  this  a  minor  but  puzzling  peculiarity 
of  the  gorilla's  anatomy.  In  all  these  higher 
primate  forms  we  note  on  the  right  side  of  the 
abdomen,  just  above  the  groin,  that  the  small 
intestine  ends  in  a  capacious  caecum,  the 
name  given  to  the  dilated  commencement  of 
the  great  bowel.  At  the  closed  and  lower 
end  of  the  caecum,  in  the  anthropoid,  as  in  man, 
is  attached  a  narrow  tube — the  notorious 
appendix  vermiformis.  It  terminates  blindly 
below  and  hangs  freely  within  the  abdomen, 
lying  more  or  less  behind  the  csecum,  into 
which  its  upper  end  opens.  Vermiform  or 
worm-like  is  not  an  unhappy  term,  for  in  life 
the  appendix  may  be  seen  to  sloAvly  twist 
and  turn  as  its  muscular  coat  passes  into 
action  during  digestion.  It  varies  in  size 
according  to  the  age  of  the  individual  and 
the  state  of  digestion.  In  the  gorilla  it  is 
of  the  hickness  of  the  small  finger,  but  twice 
as  long ;  in  man  it  is  shorter  and  smaller, 
but  in  him  its  shape  and  size  are  subject  to  the 
utmost  variation  after  puberty.  Unfortun- 
ately, we  do  not  know  the  uses  of  the  appendix, 
but  on  many  occasions  the  writer  has  noted 
in  the  anthropoids  and  in  children  that  the 
contents  of  the  caecum  pass  freely  into  it. 
In  the  gibbon  it  is  quite  usual  \K>  find  within 


50  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

it  seeds  of  fruit,  as  big  as  cherry  stones, 
during  active  and  normal  digestion.  So  far 
we  have  never  known  of  appendicitis  occurring 
in  anthropoids  Hving  in  a  state  of  nature, 
but  they  do  become  Hable  to  this  disease 
when  kept  in  captivity  and  fed  on  a  human 
diet.  In  monkeys  the  caecum  terminates 
below  in  a  blunt  conical  point,  which  repre- 
sents the  appendix,  but  no  real  narrow 
worm-like  appendix  is  present.  Yet  it  is 
very  possible  that  at  one  time  an  appendix 
may  have  been  present  in  monkeys,  for  in 
lemurs,  which  represent  an  older  type  than 
the  true  primates,  a  true  appendix  is  found. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  that  the 
highest  group  of  primates  and  the  lemurs 
have  acquired  an  appendix  independently. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  make  a  further  survey 
of  the  organs  of  digestion  ;  we  see  that  if 
we  were  to  classify  animals  according  to  the 
abdominal  viscera,  we  should  have  to  place 
man,  the  great  anthropoids  and  the  small 
anthropoids  or  gibbons  in  a  single  group. 
Even  to  the  detail  of  possessing  an  appendix 
vermiformis  they  are  the  same. 

In  another  gallery  we  may  examine  the 
evolution  of  the  nerve  system  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest.  At  the  end  of  the  series  are 
placed  the  massive  and  complex  brains  of 
various  races  of  mankind ;  much  further 
down  the  series  we  note  the  small  and  simple 
brain  of  the  marmoset.     In  shape  it  is  not 


MAN'S   PLACE   AIMONGST  ANIMALS    51 

unlike  the  brain  of  the  human  foetus  at  the 
end  of  the  third  month  of  development.  We 
note  that  the  brains  of  the  great  anthropoids 
in  size  and  complexity  are  intermediate 
to  the  comparatively  simple  brain  of  the 
gibbon  on  the  one  hand  and  the  human  brain 
on  the  other.  One  point  rather  impresses 
us.  As  far  as  the  skeleton  was  concerned 
we  saw  that  the  gibbon  and  the  monkey  were 
widely  separated,  but  when  we  come  to 
examine  their  brains  the  difference  between 
them  appears  to  be  much  less  in  degree. 
Yet  in  every  point  in  which  the  brain  of  the 
gibbon  departs  from  that  of  the  monkey  it 
approaches  the  cerebral  forms  of  the  great 
anthropoids. 

We  might  examine  each  system  of  the 
human  body  in  turn,  but  it  is  unnecessary, 
for  the  anatomical  evidence  to  be  thus 
obtained  would  but  bear  out  what  we  have 
already  gathered.  We  see  that  man  is  a 
member  of  that  group  of  mammals  we  have 
named  the  higher  primates.  He  is  one  of 
the  three  families  included  in  that  group. 
The  central  family  is  represented  by  the 
great  anthropoids  ;  man  on  the  one  side  and 
the  gibbon  on  the  other  represent  the  two 
other  families.  All  three  families  we  believe 
to  have  arisen  from  a  common  ancestral 
stock,  but  while  the  gibbon  has  clung  to  the 
ancestral  form,  man  has  progressively  and 
aberrantly  evolved  to  his   present  position. 


52  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

The  great  anthropoids  have  been  steered  in 
a  middle  course,  and  will  without  doubt  at 
no  distant  date  be  extinguished  when  Euro- 
pean civilization  reaches  their  jungle  homes. 
Then  will  there  be  a  wide  gap  between  man 
and  his  nearest  living  allies. 

Of  late  years  we  have  obtained  evidence 
of  another  character  which  throws  a  strange 
light  on  the  close  relationship  which  exists 
between  man  and  the  great  anthropoids. 
We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  thinking  that 
many  diseases  were  peculiar  to  man,  and  that 
no  other  animal  could  be  infected  with  them. 
Such,  for  example,  was  believed  to  be  the  case 
in  syphilis.  If  an  ordinary  monkey  is  infected 
with  this  disease,  no  real  inoculation  takes 
place  ;  at  the  most  only  a  passing  disturbance 
is  manifested.  The  chimpanzee  and  orang 
can  be  really  infected,  as  has  been  proved 
by  those  who  are  seeking  to  find  a  remedy 
for  a  disease  which  often  produces  most 
disastrous  effects  on  man.  The  great  anthro- 
poids suffer  only  from  the  milder  effects  of 
the  disease.  Yet  we  have  proof  here  that 
the  constitutions  of  the  great  anthropoids 
have  much  in  common  with  that  of  man, 
which  is  comprehensible  if  both  are  descend- 
ants of  a  common  stock.  Professor  Griinbaum 
has  shown  that  the  anthropoids  are  also 
susceptible  to  other  human  infectious  diseases. 
Bacteriologists  have  thrown  a  flood  of  light 
on    the    constitutional    nature    of    animals. 


MAN'S   PLACE  AMONGST  ANIMALS    53 

In  the  course  of  their  researches  a  method  was 
discovered  by  which  a  minute  quantity  of  the 
blood  of  any  animal  can  be  detected.  The 
manner  in  which  the  test  is  carried  out  is 
highly  technical.  A  special  solution  is  pre- 
pared for  testing  the  blood  of  each  animal. 
We  shall  suppose  that  the  solution  prepared 
is  for  detecting  human  blood.  When  to  this 
solution  is  added  a  fluid  in  which  a  stain  of 
human  blood  has  been  dissolved  a  cloudiness 
appears  in  the  solution,  and  a  precipitate 
occurs  in  the  test-tube.  No  other  blood  except 
human  will  give  the  full  precipitate.  If  a 
solution  of  dog's  blood  is  added  there  is  no 
result.  Professor  Nuttall  found,  however, 
that  a  precipitate  could  be  obtained  with  the 
blood  of  anthropoids — not  so  plentifully  as 
is  the  case  with  human  blood,  but  yet  enough 
to  show  that  in  "  blood  relationship  "  man 
and  the  anthropoids  stand  very  near  together. 


CHAPTER  IV 

STATURE,  PROPORTION,  AND  GROWTH 

In  this  chapter  we  propose  again  to  visit 
the  Hunterian  Museum  in  London  to  see 
those  specimens  which  illustrate  the  growth 
and  size  of  the  human  body.  We  wish 
especially  to  ascertain  when  and  how  man 
came  to  have  a  stature  which  varies  between 
five  and  six  feet,  or  to  use  the  more  con- 
venient metric  system,  between  1,500  and 
1,800  millimetres. 

If  we  cross  Waterloo  Bridge  in  the  throng 
of  city  workers  hurrying  to  business,  and 
thread  our  way  to  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  in 
the  press  of  morning  traffic,  we  have  ample 
opportunity  for  seeing  how  varied  the  human 
body  is  in  size,  in  shape,  and  in  carriage. 
If  we  were  to  measure  a  thousand  men  as 
they  pass  by  we  should  find  that  rather  more 
than  500  of  them  had  a  stature  between  5  ft. 
5  J  in.  and  5  ft.  9  J  in. ;  we  may  a,ccept  the  height 
of  the  average  man  as  5  ft.  7 J  in.  (1,715  mm.). 
In  the  thousand  men  we  should  probably 
find  ten  who  were  under  5  ft.  (1,525  mm.), 
and  three  or  four  who  were  over  6  ft.     We 

54 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  55 

observe,  too,  that  the  women  are  shghter 
in  build  and  shorter  in  stature.  On  the 
average  their  stature  falls  4  J  in.  below  that 
of  men  ;  more  than  half  of  them  are  between 
5  ft.  1  in.  and  5  ft.  5  in.  The  growth  of 
women  is  not  regulated  by  the  same  laws  that 
hold  good  for  men.  If  we  could  follow  these 
busy  people  to  their  offices  and  watch  them 
seated  at  their  desks  we  should  be  surprised 
to  see  that  some  who  were  apparently  tall  as 
they  walked  along  appear  to  be  of  average 
height  when  seated  ;  others  who  in  the  street 
seemed  of  short  stature  now  appear  to  be  of  an 
average  height.  It  is  evident  that  stature 
depends  on  two  distinct  factors,  the  length  of 
the  lower  limbs,  and  the  length  of  the  trunk  or 
body.  The  sitting  height  gives  us  the  height 
of  the  body.  When  a  man  or  woman  who  are 
of  the  same  height,  sit  down,  it  is  usually  the 
case  that  the  woman  appears  the  taller, 
because  her  body  is  proportionally  longer 
than  that  of  the  man,  while  her  lower  limbs 
are  relatively  shorter. 

Arriving  at  the  museum  we  make  our  way 
to  the  various  rooms  which  will  provide  us 
with  evidence  as  to  when  mankind  came  by 
its  present  size  of  body.  Our  search  lies  first 
among  the  specimens  which  represent  the  bones 
of  men  who  lived  in  Europe  when  its  northern 
half,  including  the  greater  part  of  Britain, 
lay  under  ice.  How  long  ago  that  may  be 
cannot   be   accurately   estimated,    but   most 


56  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

geologists  are  agreed  that  the  bones  we  are 
now  looking  at  belonged  to  men  who  lived 
100,000  years  ago,  or  even  more.  When  we 
compare  these  bones  of  fossil  men  with  our  own 
we  see  that  their  owners  were  stouter  made  but 
not  so  tall  as  we  are.  The  famous  Neanderthal 
man,  whose  bones  were  discovered  in  1857  at 
Neanderthal  in  Germany,  stood  about  five  feet 
four  inches  in  height.  Indeed  all  the  examples 
which  have  been  discovered  of  the  Neanderthal 
type  of  man  show  us  that  ancient  man  was 
far  from  being  the  giant  which  fable  and 
tradition  have  led  us  to  expect.  Indeed  we 
know  of  no  tall  men  in  Europe  until  the 
glacial  period  was  drawing  to  a  close.  The 
Cro-Magnon  race  then  appears  in  France ; 
many  of  the  men  of  that  race  stood  six  feet 
high ;  but  the  opposite  sex  appear  to  have 
been  only  a  little  taller  than  modern  women. 
The  very  earliest  form  of  man  yet  discovered 
— ^the  fossil  man  of  Java,  usually  named 
Pithecanthropus — was  about  five  feet  six 
inches  high.  The  evidence  so  far  leads  us  to 
believe  that  our  present  stature  and  size  of 
body  are  part  of  an  ancient  inheritance,  one 
which  has  not  been  altered  by  the  passage  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  years. 

We  must  approach  the  problem  in  another 
way,  for  we  have  not  as  yet  discovered  the 
ancestral  human  forms  which  are  older  than 
Pithecanthropus.  When  the  skeleton  of  man 
is  compared  mth  those  of  the  great  anthropoid 


STATURE,  PROPORTION,   GROWTH    57 

apes — ^the  gorilla,  chimpanzee  and  orang,  it 
is  at  once  seen  that  as  regards  size,  all  of  these 
form  a  uniform  group.  The  adult  male 
chimpanzee  is  about  the  same  weight  as  an 
average  man — viz.  from  ten  to  eleven  stones 
(sixty-three — seventy  kilos).  The  adult  male 
orang  is  heavier — about  twelve  to  thirteen 
stones,  while  the  adult  male  gorilla  is  about 
fourteen  stones.  The  gibbons  or  small  anthro- 
poids weigh  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  pounds, 
only  about  a  tenth  of  the  great  anthropoids. 
Monkeys  vary  in  weight  from  two  to  thirty 
pounds.  In  the  standing  posture,  man's  long 
lower  extremities  give  him  an  advantage  over 
the  short-legged  anthropoids ;  he  stands  nearly 
a  head  higher  than  they.  But  if  we  measure 
them  in  the  seated  posture  man's  superior- 
ity disappears.  While  his  head  and  trunk 
measure  about  thirty-four  inches,  those  of  the 
chimpanzee  reach  to  about  thirty-five  inches, 
the  orang  about  thirty-seven  inches,  and  the 
gorilla  about  thirty-nine  inches.  The  head 
and  trunk  of  the  gibbon  measure  only  about 
twenty  inches,  approximately  the  same  as 
one  would  find  in  a  boy  of  about  two  years  of 
age.  Now  we  know  that  great  anthropoids 
were  in  existence  at  a  period  which  predates 
the  fossil  man  of  Java ;  in  the  fossil  beds  of  the 
North  of  India  (Siwalik),  which  geologists 
regard  as  formed  in  the  Pliocene  period  of 
the  earth's  history,  bones  of  an  anthropoid  as 
big  as  the  orang  have  been  found.     The  very 


5S  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

earliest  of  the  large  fossil  anthropoids  which 
have  yet  been  discovered  is  the  kind  now 
named  Dryopithecus.  The  bones  of  this 
anthropoid,  which  was  smaller  than  the 
chimpanzee,  but  much  larger  than  the  gibbon, 
have  been  found  in  the  strata  of  France  and 
of  Germany  which  geologists  regard  as  formed 
in  the  Miocene  period — ^the  one  which  precedes 
the  Pliocene.  At  a  still  earlier  date  in  the 
Miocene  period  we  know  that  anthropoids 
similar  in  form  and  size  to  the  modern  gibbons 
were  in  existence,  but  we  do  not  yet  know  of 
any  big  form  of  primate  which  is  older  than 
the  Miocene  period.  We  have  every  reason 
to  suppose  that  it  was  during  the  early  part 
of  that  period — how  many  millions  of  years 
ago  one  does  not  dare  to  hazard  a  guess — 
that  the  large  bodied  primates  were  evolved. 
These  large  Miocene  primates  appear  to  be 
the  stock  from  which  the  great  anthropoids 
and  man  have  descended.  The  size  of  our 
bodies  then  is  an  old  inheritance — one  which 
has  come  down  to  us  through  millions  of 
years. 

We  return  to  that  part  of  the  museum 
where  we  can  study  the  growth  of  the  human 
skeleton.  Before  us  there  are  arranged  speci- 
mens, row  upon  row,  showing  the  develop- 
ment of  the  bones  of  the  child  before  birth.  It 
will  be  better,  however,  to  confine  our  attention 
to  one  bone,  and  we  select  the  femur  or  thigh- 
bone,  because  by  watching  the  manner  in 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  59 

which  it  is  formed  and  increased  in  length, 
a  guide  will  be  given  us  to  the  way  in 
which  we  attain  to  our  adult  height.  Up 
to  the  seventh  week,  when  the  human  foetus 
is  less  than  an  inch  in  length,  the  thigh-bone 
is  formed  of  cartilage ;  there  then  appears  in 
the  cartilagenous  shaft  a  centre  of  bone  form- 
ation, and  the  cartilage  is  gradually  replaced 
by  bone  until  only  its  extremities  remain  as 
cartilage.  At  the  end  of  the  ninth  nxonth 
the  child  is  born,  being  then  about  twenty 
inches  long,  and  seven  lbs.  in  weight.  In  the 
skeletons  showing  the  condition  just  before 
birth,  we  see  that  a  separate  centre  of  bone 
formation  has  appeared  in  the  cartilage  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  femur,  in  those  showing  the 
skeleton  of  the  child  some  months  after  birth 
we  note  a  centre  has  also  appeared  in  the  car- 
tilaginous head  at  the  upper  end  of  the  femur. 
Passing  on  to  the  skeletons  which  show  the  con- 
dition in  the  eighth  year  we  see  that  the  ends 
of  the  bones  are  represented  by  separate  parts 
or  epiphyses,  each  of  which  is  fixed  to  the  shaft 
by  a  plate  of  cartilage.  These  plates  of  car- 
tilage which  join  the  epiphyses  to  the  shaft 
are  seats  of  most  active  formation  of  bone  ; 
the  new  bone  laid  down  at  these  lines  causes 
the  femur  to  increase  in  length.  On  the  surface 
of  the  femur  also  new  bone  is  being  laid  down 
and  thus  the  thigh-bone  increases  in  thickness. 
These  lines  of  growth — epiphyseal  lines  they  are 
called — keep  open  so  long  as  growth  in  stature 


60  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

continues ;  when,  however,  they  become 
closed  growth  in  height  is  over.  Hence  in  the 
skeletons  of  women  who  have  died  about  the 
age  of  twenty,  and  in  those  of  men  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four,  we  find  that  most  of  the  growth 
lines  are  closed.  There  is,  however,  a  consid- 
erable degree  of  variation  as  regards  the  date 
of  closure,  for  we  know  some  men  who  grew 
very  little  after  their  twentieth  year,  and 
others  who  kept  on  adding  to  their  stature 
until  they  were  twenty-six  or  even  older. 

What  causes  these  lines  of  growth  to  close 
at  a  definite  period  of  life  and  prevents  them 
from  ever  again  becoming  opened  is  still  a 
mystery.  There  are  two  celebrated  skeletons 
in  an  adjoining  case  of  this  museum  which 
throw  some  light  on  the  circumstances  which 
determine  growth  and  stature.  These  two 
skeletons  are  placed  side  by  side.  One  is  that 
of  Charles  Byrne,  who  was  exhibited  in  London 
as  "  O'Brian  the  Irish  Giant  "  and  died  in 
1783  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  The  skeleton 
has  a  height  of  seven  feet  eight  and  two-fifths 
of  an  inch  (2,358  mm.).  It  towers  above 
the  skeleton  of  Caroline  Crachami,  "the 
Sicilian  dwarf,"  who  was  also  exhibited  in 
London  and  died  at  the  age  of  nine.  Her 
skeleton  is  little  bigger  than  that  of  a  newly 
born  child ;  it  is  only  twenty  inches  high, 
whereas,  if  growth  had  been  normal,  she  should 
have  measured  about  forty-eight  inches  at  the 
age  of  nine.     The  giant  on  the  other  hand  is 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  61 

twenty-four  inches  taller  than  the  average  man. 
If  we  could  discover  what  caused  arrest 
of  development  in  the  one,  and  over-develop- 
ment in  the  other,  we  should  be  in  a  fair  way 
to  solving  the  mystery  of  growth.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
discovered  that  giants  of  the  type  of  0''Brian 
were  really  the  subjects  of  disease  ;  in  all  of 
them  the  small  pituitary  gland,  which  lies 
in  the  base  of  the  skull  under  the  brain,  is  the 
seat  of  an  overgrowth,  often  of  a  tumour.  In 
some  manner  an  increase  or  alteration  of  the 
secretion  of  the  pituitary  gland,  which  passes 
into  the  circulation,  acts  upon  the  growing  lines 
of  the  bones  and  stimulates  them  so  that  the 
bones  increase  in  length  at  a  rapid  rate,  thus 
producing  the  condition  known  as  giantism. 
The  increased  gro\^i:h  is  apparently  due  to  an 
increase  in  the  amount  of  pituitary  secretion. 
The  muscles  and  other  neighbouring  parts 
are  similarly  affected  and  grow  at  a  corres- 
ponding rate.  We  infer  then  that  one  of  the 
circumstances  which  regulates  growlh  is  the 
secretion  of  the  pituitary  gland.  It  seems 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  we  may 
yet  be  able  to  add  even  a  cubit  to  the  stature 
if  we  should  so  wish.  Near  by  is  the  skeleton 
of  an  unfortunate  man  who  was  the  subject 
of  a  disease  of  the  pituitary  gland  ;  the  gland 
had  become  enormously  enlarged  during  adult 
life  and  after  the  growing  lines  of  the  bones 
had  become  closed.     A  cast  of  his  face  shows 


62  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

how  massive  and  ugly  the  face  has  become ; 
Hps  are  thickened  ;  the  ridges  over  the  orbits 
form  great  bulging  masses  which  overshadow 
the  eyes  ;  the  nose  and  face  are  really  gigantic. 
His  hands  and  feet  are  enlarged  and  overgrown. 
The  backbone,  abnormally  curved,  is  much 
longer  than  is  usual,  while  the  chest  is  huge 
and  barrel-shaped.  All  these  changes  occur- 
red slowly,  after  the  man  was  fully  grown, 
and  completely  changed  his  outward  appear- 
ance and  his  nature.  We  suppose  that  if  the 
growth  lines  had  still  been  open  when  the 
disease  set  in  he  would  have  become  of  great 
stature.  The  man  was  the  subject  of  a  dis- 
ease of  growth  which  we  name  acromegaly, 
and  which  we  believe  to  be  due  primarily 
to  an  enlargement  or  tumour  of  the  pituitary 
gland.  In  all  of  these  cases  the  pituitary  is 
enlarged. 

In  the  skeleton  of  little  Caroline  Crachami 
we  see  the  result  of  an  opposite  disease,  but 
its  exact  nature  we  do  not  yet  know.  Instead 
of  being  about  forty-eight  inches  high  as  the 
skeleton  of  a  child  of  nine  should  be,  it  is 
only  twenty  inches.  The  bones,  too,  have 
scarcely  passed  beyond  the  stage  reached  in  the 
skeleton  of  a  child  at  birth  ;  there  has  been 
a  complete  arrest  of  growth.  It  is  possible 
that  the  condition  may  result  from  a  deficiency 
of  secretion  from  the  pituitary  gland,  but  there 
are  grounds  for  suspecting  that  another  gland 
which  supplies  an  internal  secretion  is  also  at 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  63 

fault — namely  the  thyroid,  which  we  have 
already  seen  in  the  neck.  ]\Iany  of  the  dwarfs 
who  have  figured  in  history  and  in  fable 
have  suffered  from  the  same  disease  as  Cra- 
chami.  The  famous  dwarf,  Jeffrey  Hudson, 
a  favourite  at  the  Court  of  Charles  I.,  was 
one  of  these.  Even  as  a  young  man  he  was 
no  taller  than  Crachami,  and  was  served  up 
in  a  pie  at  the  table  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
as  a  surprise  for  the  Queen  of  Charles  I.,  to 
whom  he  became  an  engaging  and  sharp-witted 
little  page.  At  a  later  stage  of  his  manhood 
growth  set  in  and  he  became  forty-two  inches 
in  height  by  his  thirtieth  year.  We  see  then 
that  growth  may  be  delayed  until  a  late 
period  in  life. 

We  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  men 
are  as  a  rule  four  or  five  inches  taller  than 
women.  In  determining  the  greater  stature 
of  the  male  it  is  possible  that  the  sexual  organs 
may  have  a  powerful  influence.  It  is  now 
known  that  sexual  organs  have  not  only  the 
duty  of  renewing  the  race, — but  have  also, 
by  a  secretion  thrown  into  the  circulation, 
an  influence  on  the  nutrition,  well-being  and 
growth  of  the  body.  We  have  only  to  look 
at  domesticated  animals  and  note  the  differ- 
ence between  the  ox  and  the  bull  to  see  how 
deep-rooted  the  influence  of  the  genital  glands 
can  be  in  shaping  the  size  and  form  of  the  body. 
If  we  study  the  growth  of  children  it  becomes 
very  apparent  that  the  sexual  organs  play  a 


64  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

large  part  in  regulatingthe  rate  of  development. 
Between  birth  and  the  twentieth  year  there 
are  two  spurts  of  growth.  The  first  takes 
place  during  the  first  and  second  year — ^until 
the  child  learns  to  walk ;  in  that  period  the 
stature  shoots  up  from  twenty  inches  to  thirty- 
three  or  thirty-four  inches — at  a  rate  of  about 
seven  inches  a  year.  Thereafter  the  increase 
is  at  the  rate  of  about  two  and  a  half  inches 
yearly  until  the  age  of  puberty  approaches 
and  then  the  second  spurt  occurs.  In  Great 
Britain  girls  grow  more  rapidly  than  boys 
between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen,  and  for 
two  or  three  years  are  actually  taller  than  boys 
of  their  own  age.  They  are  more  precocious 
in  their  growth  than  boys.  The  thirteenth 
year  is  the  one  of  most  rapid  growth  in  girls, 
whereas  in  boys  it  is  the  sixteenth.  Between 
his  fourteenth  and  sixteenth  year  a  boy  usually 
shoots  up  about  eight  inches.  We  know  that 
at  these  later  periods  of  rapid  growth  in  the 
two  sexes,  the  sexual  glands  are  also  undergoing 
a  maturing  change  in  structure  and  function, 
and  we  have  good  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
extra  growth  is  directly  due  to  a  secretion 
these  are  supplying  to  the  circulation.  We 
thus  see  that  our  stature  and  our  bodily  growth 
are  determined  or  at  least  regulated  by  a  series 
of  glands  which  exert  an  influence  through 
their  secretions. 

Our   stature  and   growth  also  depend   on 
food,  exercise  and  fresh  air ;   there  can  be  no 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  65 

doubt  of  that.  It  is  well  known  that  boys  of 
well-to-do  people  at  good  schools  are  taller, 
heavier,  and  stronger  than  boys  of  poor  people 
in  schools  situated  within  the  slums  of  big 
cities.  How  much  of  the  difference  is  due  to 
food  and  environment  and  how  much  is  the 
result  of  heredity,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  for 
the  better-off  class  in  England  is  taller  than 
the  poorest  class.  Children  naturally  inherit 
stature  as  well  as  other  features  of  their 
parents.  The  stature  of  English  soldiers  is  1,701 
mm.^;  Oxford  undergraduates,  however,  are 
1,726  mm. — an  inch  taller,  and  those  measured 
were  not  fully  grown.  A  group  of  Scotch 
soldiers  measured  1,713  mm. ;  a  group  of  Irish, 
1,707,  of  Germans,  1,696,  of  Italians,  1,620  mm. 
and  the  soldier  of  the  United  States,  1,736  mm. 
The  various  races  of  European  origin  have  a 
wonderfully  uniform  mean  stature ;  5  feet 
6  inches  may  be  accepted  as  the  mean  stature 
of  the  average  European  man  ;  the  mean  in 
some  countries,  such  as  Italy,  falls  to  nearly 
two  inches  below  the  mean,  while  in  another, 
such  as  Scotland,  it  rises  about  that  amount 
above  the  mean. 

As  we  survey  the  skeletons  of  the  various 
races  of  the  world  which  have  been  collected 
in  the  Hunterian  Museum,  it  becomes  very 
apparent  that  it  is  amongst  the  negro  and 
negroid  races  that  the  greatest  fluctuation  in 
stature  is  found.  The  late  Dr.  MacTier  Pirrie, 
1  1,700  mm.  =  5  ft.  7  in.  lm.  =  25'4mm, 
B 


66  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

who  lost  his  life  while  investigating  the  negroes 
of  the  Sudan,  found  that  the  Dinkas,  who  live 
in  the  valley  of  the  White  Nile,  had  a  mean 
stature  of  1,801.6  mm. — a  fraction  under 
5  feet  11  inches.  The  Dinkas  are  amongst 
the  tallest  races  in  the  world.  Their  lower 
extremities  are  remarkably  long,  making  up 
more  than  half  their  height.  Where  the  Sudan 
merges  in  the  watershed  between  the  Nile  and 
the  Congo  basins,  a  negroid  tribe — ^the  Akkas 
— represent  one  of  the  smallest  if  not  actually 
the  smallest  race  of  mankind.  The  men 
stand  about  4  ft.  6  in.  high,  the  women  about 
4  ft.  2  in.  Further  south,  within  the  Congo 
Free  State,  numerous  pygmy  races  of  negroes 
are  found  forming  settlements  and  amongst 
negro  tribes  of  average  stature.  Still  further 
south,  in  the  region  of  Cape  Colony,  another 
pygmy  stock  is  found — the  Bushman  race. 
They  are  taller  than  the  Akkas,  the  men 
measuring  4  ft,  9  in.,  the  women  4  ft.  7 J  in. 
Various  pygmy  peoples  are  found  scattered 
in  the  Far  East — in  the  Andaman  Islands, 
the  Malay  Peninsula,  the  Philippine  Islands, 
and  in  New  Guinea.  These  Eastern  pygmies 
are  also  negroid  races  with  various  features  in 
common  with  the  African  pygmies.  At  first 
sight  it  may  seem  somewhat  remarkable  that 
the  tallest  and  the  shortest  races  should  be 
found  in  the  great  negro  division  of  mankind. 
When,  however,  we  remember  that  stature  is 
regulated  by  the  action  of  certain  glands,  it 


STATURE,   PROPORTION,   GROWTH  67 

becomes  apparent  that  if  the  normal  action  of 
these  regulators  of  growth  is  unfixed  a  double 
result  may  be  expected — the  production  of 
small  races  on  the  one  hand  by  under-action 
and  tall  races  on  the  other  by  over-action  on 
the  part  of  the  glands.  The  variability  of 
stature  is  a  characteristic  of  negro  tribes. 

At  one  time  the  idea  gained  some  support 
that  long  ago  Europe  was  inhabited  by  a  pygmy 
people  and  that  it  was  from  such  a  race  that 
traditions  of  elves  and  fairies  had  arisen.  The 
basis  of  this  theory  was  the  discovery  of  bones 
of  people  of  small  stature  amongst  the  graves 
of  a  race  who  lived  in  Europe  when  well  worked 
flints  were  used  as  cutting  and  fighting  tools. 
Professor  Kollmann,  who  discovered  these 
bones,  thought  they  indicated  the  existence  of 
a  race  of  small  people,  but  we  now  know  that 
these  small  people  formed  only  a  very  small 
proportion  of  the  population  to  which  they 
belonged. 

We  have  thus  made  a  brief  survey  of  our 
present  knowledge  relating  to  stature.  We 
have  seen  there  is  no  basis  for  the  belief  that 
we  are  descended  from  giants,  nor  is  there  any 
real  ground  for  believing  our  ancestors  were 
pygmies.  Our  present  size  of  body  appears  to 
be  an  old  character — one  which  we  inherited 
in  common  with  the  great  anthropoids. 
Further  we  see  that  our  stature  is  regulated 
by  the  action  of  certain  small  glands,  and  that 
over-action  or  under-action  on  the  part  of  these 


68  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

may  produce  great  fluctuations  in  stature. 
Dwarfs  and  giants  may  arise  as  sports  in 
any  race  of  mankind.  Amongst  negro  and 
negroid  peoples  we  see  an  especial  tendency 
for  the  production  of  tall  races  on  the  one 
hand  and  short  or  pygmy  races  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  ERECT  POSTURE 

There  is  some  reason  to  think  that  man, 
when  he  institutes  comparison  between  his 
own  structure  and  carriage  with  those  of  other 
animals,  is  rather  prejudiced  in  his  own 
favour.  It  is  very  apparent  from  his  Hterature 
that  he  has  come  to  regard  his  own  body  as 
the  most  perfect  organization  yet  created, 
and  not  without  reason,  for  he  has  proved 
himself  the  conquering  and  universal  species. 
The  feature  of  his  body  which  he  prizes  most 
is  its  erect  posture  ;  in  that  he  sees  a  distinc- 
tive mark  of  superiority,  and  yet  were  a 
visitor  from  an  outside  world  to  appear  as  an 
impartial  judge  it  would  be  the  anomaly  of 
this  character  rather  than  its  superiority 
which  would  impress  him.  The  earliest 
vertebrates  adapted  for  life  on  land  trailed 
their  horizontal  bodies  along  the  mud  or 
marsh  on  four  weak  limbs.  In  birds  the 
two  fore  limbs  have  been  converted  into 
wings  for  an  easy  and  swift  progression  in  the 
air,  while  the  two  hinder  limbs,  with  the 
thighs  bent  under  the  body,  have  been  re- 
served   for    locomotion    on    land    or    water. 

69 


70  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

In  mammals  generally,  the  four  limbs  have 
become  adapted  for  rapid  carriage  of  the 
body ;  in  some  they  have  become  modified 
for  swimming,  in  others  for  climbing.  Amongst 
mammals  there  are  two  forms  which  carry 
their  bodies  in  a  really  peculiar  manner,  these 
are  the  kangaroo  and  man.  In  both  the 
hinder  pair  of  extremities  have  become 
specialized  for  locomotion,  but  there  is  no 
real  resemblance  in  their  styles  of  progression 
nor  in  the  manner  in  which  the  body  is  carried. 
In  man  only  have  the  lower  limbs  been 
brought  into  a  line  with  the  body,  so  that 
thigh  and  trunk  form  a  pillar  perpendicular 
to  the  ground  on  which  he  treads.  Our 
posture  and  manner  of  walking  never  strike 
us  as  in  any  way  peculiar ;  we  are  rather 
proud  of  them,  because  they  are  characters 
which  mark  us  off  from  all  other  animals. 
If,  however,  it  had  been  one  of  the  ordinary 
four-footed  mammals  which  had  been  endowed 
with  our  powers  of  observation  and  criticism, 
it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  those  peculiar 
features  which  we  are  so  proud  of  would  have 
been  the  subject  of  joke  or  criticism. 

How  then  has  man  come  by  his  remarkable 
posture  of  to-day  ?  Many  who  have  written 
about  this  phase  of  man's  evolution  have  not 
fully  realized  the  difficulty  of  the  problem. 
They  have  assumed  that  at  a  far  past  stage  of 
the  world's  history  a  form  of  monkey  had 
abandoned  a  climbing  life  in  the  forests  and 


ERECT  POSTURE  71 

become  adapted  to  a  life  on  the  open  ground. 
In  place  of  running  on  all  fours,  a  form  of  ape, 
they  suppose,  was  gradually  evolved  which 
waddled  on  its  two  lower  limbs.  These  were 
bent  towards  the  belly  at  the  hips  and  flexed 
at  the  knees,  while  the  upper  extremities 
were  used  as  crutches  to  assist  its  unsteady 
gait.  Such  a  method  of  progression  is 
adopted  by  anthropoid  apes  in  a  state  of 
captivity.  It  is  further  supposed  that  the 
lower  extremities  became  by  degrees  straight- 
ened out  at  the  hips  and  knees,  gradually 
gaining  in  strength  until  they  were  able  to 
support  the  head  and  trunk  erect.  The 
manner  in  which  the  crawling  infant  learns 
to  walk  gives  some  support  to  this  hypothesis. 
The  evolution  of  our  posture  is  not  nearly 
so  simple  a  problem  as  those  wTiters  and 
thinkers  have  supposed.  The  changes  implied 
are  much  greater  than  a  mere  modification 
of  limbs  and  of  backbone  ;  such  a  change 
entails  a  complete  revolution  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  body.  As  an  animal  runs  along 
on  all  fours  its  viscera  are  supported  on  the 
flat  muscles  which  pass  along  the  lower 
surface  and  sides  of  its  body  ;  turn  such  an 
animal  up  into  a  human  posture  and  all  the 
viscera  tend  to  sag  down  to  the  lower  part  of 
the  abdomen.  With  the  evolution  of  the 
upright  posture  a  new  method  had  to  be 
evolved  for  keeping  the  viscera  in  place. 
The  mechanism  of  respiration  must  also  be 


72  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

changed.  Monkeys,  like  dogs  and  cats,  have 
their  chests  flattened  from  side  to  side ; 
when  the  animal  stands  or  runs  its  chest  is 
slung  between  its  forelegs.  When  such  an 
animal  is  turned  upright  and  rjiade  to  support 
itself  thus,  all  the  muscles  of  respiration  are 
disturbed  in  their  action  and  act  with  diffi- 
culty. Hence  we  find  that  the  human  chest 
is  shaped  quite  difierently  to  that  of  four- 
footed  animals,  and  its  chief  muscles  have 
undergone  an  alteration  in  their  disposition. 
The  human  chest  is  flattened,  not  from  side  to 
side,  but  from  before  backwards.  The  auto- 
matic nervous  mechanism  which  regulates 
the  distribution  of  the  blood  in  the  body  of  a 
four-footed  animal  has  to  undergo  a  complete 
adjustment  to  serve  the  same  purpose  for  an 
erect  animal  such  as  man.  The  backbone 
which  in  a  four-footed  horizontal  animal 
forms  an  arch  between  the  fore  and  hind 
limbs,  in  an  upright  one  is  not  only  altered  as 
regards  its  curvature,  but  also  in  the  length 
and  the  shape  of  its  various  segments.  The 
musculature  of  the  backbone  has  to  be  revolu- 
tionized. The  head  in  a  monkey,  as  in  a 
dog,  is  so  fixed  to  the  body  that  the  base  of  the 
skull  continues  the  line  of  the  backbone ; 
in  man  the  head  is  poised  on  the  spine  so  that 
the  base  of  the  skull  is  almost  at  a  right  angle 
to  it.  Nay,  the  closer  one  studies  the  matter, 
the  magnitude  of  the  structural  transforma- 
tion required  by  a  change  of  posture  becomes 


ERECT  POSTURE  73 

more  and  more  apparent.  There  is  not  a 
bone,  muscle,  joint  or  organ  in  the  whole 
human  body  but  must  have  undergone  a 
change  during  the  evolution  of  our  posture. 
Our  present  task  then  is  to  see  what  evidence 
can  be  produced  as  to  how  and  when  man 
came  by  his  posture.  Such  evidence  does 
not  come  to  the  man  who  sits  in  his  study  and 
reads  books;  it  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
jungles  of  the  tropics,  and  in  the  rocks  and 
strata,  where  there  are  found  fossil  remains  of 
animals  which  lived  in  tropical  forests  when 
the  earth  was  much  younger  than  it  is  now. 
It  was  the  writer's  good  fortune  to  spend 
some  time  in  a  part  of  the  Malay  Peninsula 
many  years  ago.  The  region  was  hot,  moist, 
malarious,  and  thickly  covered  with  forest 
and  jungle,  in  which  monkeys  of  several 
kinds  abounded.  In  the  course  of  a  morning's 
walk  many  families  or  troops  might  be  encoun- 
tered. As  they  scurried  off,  springing  noisily 
from  branch  to  branch,  without  ever  coming 
to  the  ground,  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  although  each  kind  of  monkey  or  ape 
had  its  own  peculiar  mode  of  making  its 
way  along  branches,  and  springing  from  tree 
to  tree,  the  gibbon  or  small  anthropoid,  which 
differed  very  little  from  other  apes  in  size,  was 
altogether  peculiar  in  its  gait.  While  the 
ordinary  monkey  ran  along  on  all  fours  with 
its  body  parallel  to  the  branch,  using  its 
hinder   extremities    as   the    chief    means    of 


74.  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

gaining  impetus  for  springing  from  tree  to 
tree,  the  gibbon  moved  deftly  along  the 
larger  branches  on  its  legs,  with  body  erect, 
and  with  its  long  arms  stretched  above  its 
head  to  seize  in  passing  the  overhanging  twigs 
for  support.  When  seeking  to  escape  it  used 
its  long  and  powerful  arms  as  the  chief  means 
of  progression.  It  was  marvellous  to  see 
how  it  could  swing  itself  from  branch  to 
branch  and  from  tree  to  tree,  often  bounding 
thus  across  an  interval  of  40  or  50  feet.  The 
ordinary  monkeys  were  horizontal  in  posture 
of  the  body  but  the  gibbon  was  upright. 
Later,  when  investigating  the  anatomy  of  the 
animals  native  to  the  jungle  to  ascertain 
whether  or  not  they  suffered  from  the  effects 
of  malaria,  the  writer  had  his  attention  arrested 
by  the  remarkable  mauner  in  which  the  gibbon 
and  ordinary  monkey  differed  in  structure  of 
body.  In  the  gibbon  the  viscera  of  the  abdo- 
men were  fixed  and  arranged  much  as  in 
man ;  the  muscles  of  the  belly  wall  had  the 
disposition  seen  in  man ;  the  thorax  was 
flattened  from  back  to  front ;  the  spinal 
column  had  the  chief  features  seen  in  man's 
skeleton,  with  the  exception  that  in  the  loins 
the  column  was  straight  instead  of  being 
curved  forward  as  in  the  human  body.  As 
regards  the  features  just  enumerated  the 
monkey  resembled  the  dog  rather  than  the 
gibbon.  There,  then,  is  a  most  important  fact 
— Si  certain   stage   in   the   evolution   in  the 


ERECT  POSTURE  75 

upright  posture  has  been  attained  in  the 
gibbon.  The  gibbon  is  an  ape  with  a  body 
adapted  for  an  upright  posture,  amidst 
arboreal  surroundings. 

The  reader  may  well  ask,  "  What  has  the 
upright  posture  in  the  gibbon  to  do  with 
man's  posture  ?  "  In  answering  that  question 
a  number  of  considerations  must  be  kept  in 
mind.  The  first  and  most  important  is  the 
fact  that  the  gibbon  occupies  a  position  in  the 
animal  scale  between  the  great  anthropoids — 
the  gorilla,  chimpanzee  or  orang,  and  the 
common  monkeys  of  the  New  World  and  of  the 
Old.  It  stands  between  the  higher  and  the 
lower.  Secondly,  we  know  that  the  erect 
posture  was  attained  by  gibbons  at  a  very 
remote  period,  for  in  the  lower  Miocene  strata 
of  the  earth  a  form  of  gibbon,  not  unlike  the 
present  type,  is  known  from  its  fossil  remains. 
It  is  very  probable  that  a  type  of  ape  similar 
to  the  gibbon  was  evolved  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Miocene  period,  or  even  before  that  period 
began.  That  is  certainly  many  millions  of 
years  ago.  We  know  nothing  of  the  early 
stages  of  the  evolution  of  the  upright  posture 
in  the  gibbon,  but  we  can  realize  that  it 
implied  a  gradual  and  complete  alteration  in 
its  structure  and  in  its  method  of  locomotion. 

In  the  great  anthropoids  we  recognize  the 
same  posture  as  in  the  gibbon.  They  are 
adapted  for  an  upright  posture  on  the  trees. 
Men  who  have  studied  the  attitude  and  gait 


76  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

of  those  animals  in  confinement  have  been 
misled  by  watching  them  waddling  across  the 
floor  of  their  cage,  using  their  long  arms  as 
crutches.  They  are  different  animals  when  at 
home  in  tropical  forests.  They  all  hold  their 
bodies  approximately  upright,  but  differ 
materially  in  their  methods  of  locomotion. 
The  orang,  like  the  gibbon,  has  extremely 
long  arms,  which  it  uses  much  more  than  its 
legs,  in  swinging  itself  from  branch  to  branch 
and  from  tree  to  tree.  In  the  chimpanzee 
the  arms,  although  longer  than  the  lower 
limbs,  are  employed  to  an  almost  equal  extent 
in  locomotion.  In  the  gorilla  we  see  a 
strengthening  of  the  legs  ;  the  foot  has  become 
an  organ  for  supporting  the  weight  of  the 
body,  and  has  lost  some  of  the  features  which 
make  the  typical  anthropoid  foot  a  grasping 
organ.  Even  among  the  great  anthropoids 
we  see  a  specialization,  not  in  posture,  but 
in  manner  of  locomotion. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  carrying  the  readef 
with  me  in  my  argument  he  will  now  realize 
that  the  erect  posture  is  a  very  old  one, 
evolved  with  the  appearance  of  the  gibbons. 
In  the  great  anthropoids  we  see  a  stage 
which  takes  us  appreciably  nearer  man ; 
they  have  the  erect  posture  and  also  man's 
bulk  of  body.  Man  does  not  differ  from 
them  in  posture,  but  in  his  manner  of  pro- 
gression. He  differs  from  them  in  being 
adapted  for  progression  on  the  ground — an 


ERECT  POSTURE  77 

adaptation  which  allowed  him  to  escape 
beyond  the  limits  of  forests  and  occupy  the 
whole  world.  The  problem  which  confronts 
lis  is  not  how  man  came  by  his  upright  posture 
— that  was  in  existence  at  an  early  date — 
but  how  and  when  did  he  come  by  his  foot, 
his  leg  and  his  thigh  ?  Apparently  a  long 
time  ago,  for  although  we  do  not  know  the 
foot  of  Pithecanthropus,  the  oldest  fossil 
man  yet  discovered,  we  may  infer  from  his 
thigh-bone,  which  is  absolutely  human  in 
character,  that  his  foot  was  also  like  ours. 
No  human  foot  has  ever  been  seen,  either  in 
human  foetus  or  in  primitive  native  races, 
in  which  the  great  toe  was  separated  like 
a  thumb,  as  is  the  case  in  all  anthropoids,  yet 
from  appearances  to  be  found  in  the  human 
foot  itself,  the  evidence  is  overwhelming  that 
the  great  toe  was  once  set  like  a  thumb,  and 
that  the  human  foot  was  at  one  stage  of 
evolution  a  grasping  organ.  The  stages 
leading  from  the  anthropoid  to  the  human 
foot  are  unknown.  The  foot  was  evolved 
before  the  brain,  for  in  Pithecanthropus — 
belonging  to  a  very  late  Pliocene  or  very  early 
Pleistocene  date — the  brain  is  little  more 
than  half  the  size  of  the  modern  human  brain. 
It  is  very  likely  that  the  human  form  of  foot 
and  leg  appeared  when  the  great  anthropoid 
forms  were  evolved — probably  in  the  long 
Miocene  period — which  was  three  times  as  long 
as  the  Pliocene  period  which  succeeded  it. 


78  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

It  was  evolved  with  the  appearance  of 
ground-Hving  anthropoids — one  of  which  we 
beheve  stands  in  the  ancestral  line  of  man. 

No  doubt  when  we  come  to  know  the 
treasures  of  "  missing  links  "  and  of  extinct 
forms  of  animal  life  which  are  at  present  hid 
in  the  more  superficial  strata  of  the  earth  we 
shall  be  able  to  trace  step  by  step  the  various 
stages  which  culminated  in  mankind.  As 
regards  his  upright  posture  we  know  enough 
to  say  that  it  is  an  old  feature,  one  which 
appeared  with  the  evolution  of  the  gibbons. 
Indeed,  the  greatest  blank  in  our  knowledge 
relates  to  the  manner,  and  the  time,  in  which 
the  posture  of  the  gibbons  was  evolved  ;  yet 
so  close  is  the  structural  relationship  between 
the  monkeys  and  the  gibbons  that  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  such  a  transformation  was 
effected.  The  next  blank  in  our  knowledge 
relates  to  the  appearance  of  the  human  foot, 
leg,  and  thigh.  There,  again,  the  structural 
resemblance  between  the  anthropoid  and 
human  foot  can  only  be  explained  by  sup- 
posing they  have  been  evolved  from  a  common 
form.  Thus,  in  the  body  of  man  there  are 
certain  features  which  are  new,  some  not  so 
new,  some  old  and  others  older  still.  His  large 
brain  appears  to  be  his  latest  acquisition ;  his 
foot,  leg,  and  plantigrade  gait  is  older,  his  size 
of  body  older  still,  and  his  erect  posture  quite  an 
ancient  character — one  which  probably  dates 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Miocene  period. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  TAIL  AND  CERTAIN  OTHER  VESTIGIAL 
STRUCTURES 

It  is  very  possible  that  the  reader  may  still 
entertain  a  doubt  as  to  the  probability  of 
man  having  come  by  his  upright  posture  and 
plantigrade  gait  in  the  manner  explained 
in  the  last  chapter.  In  this  one  I  propose  to 
discuss  with  him  some  very  peculiar  features  of 
man's  body  which  are  concerned  with  posture, 
and  which  afford  additional  evidence  that  the 
human  stock  was  not  always  adapted  for  the 
erect  posture.  The  first  of  these  is  the  human 
tail.  It  is  not  a  matter  one  cares  to  lay 
emphasis  on,  yet  for  the  sake  of  truth  it  must 
be  admitted  that  man  is  the  descendant  of  a 
tailed  primate.  The  tail  is  a  direct  prolonga- 
tion of  the  backbone  ;  all  those  segments  or 
vertebrae  which  lie  beyond  the  sacral  verbe- 
brag — the  ones  to  which  the  hind  limbs  are 
attached — are  tail  or  caudal  vertebras.  In 
man,  these  vertebrae,  four  or  five  in  number 
and  vestigial  in  size  and  form,  are  buried 
beneath  the  skin.  In  the  human  embryo  up 
to  the  sixth  week,  the  tail  projects  on  the 

79 


80  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

surface  of  the  body ;  its  projection  is  best 
seen  when  the  embryo  is  in  the  third  and 
fourth  weeks  of  development.  Even  at  birth 
a  depression  in  the  skin  marks  the  point  at 
which  the  tail  sinks  within  the  body.  It  is 
not  uncommon  to  find  during  dissection  of 
the  human  body  vestigial  muscles  passing  to 
the  coccyx,  which  represent  the  tail  muscles 
of  lower  animals.  Well  authenticated  cases 
are  on  record  of  children  who  have  been  born 
with  true  tails.  Such  cases  are  rare,  and  the 
tails  are  little  better  than  soft  string-like 
appendages,  but  their  structure,  and  the  fact 
that  they  form  a  continuation  of  the  backbone, 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  their  true  nature. 

Many  years  ago  critics  of  Darwin  often 
twitted  his  supporters  on  the  subject  of 
man's  tail ;  they  regarded  the  theory  of  a 
human  tail  as  a  joke.  A  tailless  condition  is 
not  confined  to  man ;  in  the  anthropoids, 
both  great  and  small,  the  tail  has  disappeared 
to  even  a  greater  degree  than  in  man.  In 
some  monkeys  the  tail  has  been  reduced  to  a 
short  projecting  stump,  but  only  in  man  and 
the  anthropoids  can  the  tail  be  said  to  be 
completely  hidden  and  reduced  to  the  condi- 
tion of  a  coccyx.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  it  is  only  these  higher  primates  which  have 
attained  the  erect  or  upright  posture  it  will 
be  at  once  suspected  that  the  disappearance 
of  the  tail  is  a  result  of  a  change  of  posture. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  case.  We 


VESTIGIAL  STRUCTURES  81 

have  seen  that  when  a  monkey  is  held  upright 
its  viscera  gravitate  downwards  and  need  sup- 
port from  below.  The  muscles  which  close 
the  hinder  end  of  the  body  are  the  muscles 
which  depress  the  tail ;  by  depressing  the  tail 
the  monkey  can  support  or  shut  in  the  contents 
of  the  abdomen.  In  man,  the  great  anthro- 
poids, and  in  the  gibbon  we  find  the  muscles 
which  depress  the  tail  spread  out  as  a  muscular 
hammock  across  the  pelvis  to  support  the 
viscera.  The  exact  function  of  the  tail  in 
monkeys  we  do  not  know  accurately ;  in 
South  American  forms  it  is  used  as  an  extra 
hand  ;  in  Old  World  monkeys  it  seems  to  serve 
as  a  balancing-rod,  for  one  notices  those  with 
long  tails  now  holding  them  aloft,  at  other  times 
trailing  them  behind,  first  on  one  side  of  the 
branch  they  are  walking  on,  then  on  the  other. 
With  the  evolution  of  the  upright  posture 
the  tail  became  useless  as  a  balancing  organ  ; 
the  centre  of  the  gravity  of  the  body  became 
then  quite  altered.  The  muscles  which  de- 
pressed the  tail  were  needed  for  the  support 
of  the  abdominal  organs,  and  hence  the 
tail  became  useless  in  the  new  economy 
which  was  established  and  became  buried  or 
coccygeal  in  form.  The  actual  process  which 
leads  to  the  disappearance  of  useless  organs  we 
do  not  know  fully,  but  we  do  know  that  they 
vanish,  usually  as  in  the  present  case,  leaving 
some  mark  or  trace  behind.  Thus  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  tail  did  not  take  place  when 


82  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

man  as  we  know  him  now  was  being  evolved  ; 
it  was  even  suppressed  before  the  great 
anthropoids  came  on  the  scene.  Amongst 
all  the  animals  now  living,  the  gibbon  is  the 
most  primitive  tailless  form,  and  it  was  pro- 
bably during  its  evolution  from  a  monkey- 
like form  that  the  tail  was  lost.  Seeing  how 
long  the  tail  has  ceased  to  be  a  functional 
organ  in  the  ancestry  of  man,  it  is  a  matter 
of  astonishment,  not  that  it  is  rarely  devel- 
oped, but  that  it  should  reappear  at  all. 

Occasionally  men  are  born  with  the  organs 
within  the  abdomen  fixed  and  arranged 
exactly  as  they  are  in  horizontally  placed — 
or,  to  use  a  better  term — ^pronograde  monkeys. 
Surgeons  are  well  aware  of  the  occurrence 
of  such  anomalies,  for  in  these  men  the  bowel 
being  loosely  attached  by  its  mesentery,  is 
apt  to  become  twisted  on  itself,  thus  causing 
obstruction.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  develop- 
ment of  the  human  embryo  the  bowel  is 
attached  as  in  a  pronograde  monkey,  but  in 
the  later  months  the  adaptations  seen  in 
upright  or  orthograde  primates  take  place. 
The  small  bowel  in  pronograde  animals  is 
attached  by  a  mesentery  or  sheet  of  membrane, 
shaped  somewhat  like  a  fan  ;  when  the  human 
foetus  enters  the  orthograde  or  upright  stage 
of  development  one  side  of  the  mesentery 
becomes  applied  to  the  posterior  wall  of  the 
abdomen,  and  thus  the  bowel  is  more  closely 
bound    down.     It    would    be    impossible    to 


VESTIGIAL  STRUCTURES  83 

explain  the  facts  relating  to  the  fixation  of  the 
abdominal  viscera  unless  we  suppose  that  at 
one  stage  of  evolution,  the  ancestry  of  man 
was  pronograde  in  its  posture. 

Very  little  has  been  said  as  yet  concerning 
the  effect  of  the  upright  or  orthograde  posture 
on  the  organs  within  the  chest — the  heart 
and  lungs.  It  is  quite  evident,  however, 
that  when  a  pronograde  animal  is  held  erect 
not  only  do  its  abdominal  viscera  tend  to 
sink  down,  but  so  also  do  those  within  the 
thorax.  In  the  pronograde  ape  there  is  a 
space  between  the  heart  and  the  diaphragm 
which  is  filled  or  occupied  by  a  process  or  lobe 
(azygos  lobe)  of  the  base  of  the  right  lung. 
In  orthograde  animals,  such  as  man  and  the 
anthropoids,  the  heart  comes  to  rest  on  the 
upper  surface  of  the  diaphragm  and  the 
azygos  lobe  disappears.  A  rudiment  of  it 
can  always  be  seen,  and  occasionally  it  is  of 
some  size,  and  projects  inwards  between  the 
heart  and  diaphragm  occupying  the  same 
position  as  in  pronograde  apes.  We  cannot 
explain  the  presence  of  a  vestige  of  the  azygos 
lobe  unless  we  suppose  that  man  had  passed 
through  a  pronograde  stage. 

There  is  a  danger  of  becoming  tedious  were 
I  to  press  on  the  reader  the  technical  evidence 
to  be  found  in  man's  body  which  indicates 
a  change  in  posture.  Yet  there  is  an  advan- 
tage in  approaching  the  study  of  the  human 
body   in   the   manner   I   have   adopted,    for 


84.  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

certain  functional  peculiarities  are  brought 
before  us  which  otherwise  would  escape 
observation.  This  is  especially  the  case  as 
regards  the  shoulder  region  of  our  bodies ; 
we  are  square-shouldered  ;  the  military  man 
loves  to  emphasize  this  feature  by  wearing 
epaulettes.  Indeed,  the  fashionable  tailor 
frequently  makes  good  any  deficiency  in  his 
customers'  shoulders  by  the  use  of  a  little 
padding.  The  shoulders  of  pronograde  apes 
are  set  quite  differently  to  ours  ;  they  are 
pressed  against  the  flattened  sides  of  the 
chest,  the  sharp,  keel-like  sternum  along 
the  lower  margin  of  the  body  projecting 
downwards  between  and  beneath  them.  The 
muscles  are  so  arranged  as  to  advance  and 
retract  the  shoulders  as  the  animal  runs 
along.  With  the  assumption  of  the  upright 
posture  in  the  gibbon,  the  shoulder  is  swung 
round  to  the  side  of  the  body,  and  the  thorax 
becomes  widened  from  side  to  side.  The 
shoulder  thus  assumes  the  same  position  as  in 
man,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  arms  are 
used  for  suspending  the  body  and  for  swinging 
it  from  branch  to  branch,  the  arrangement 
of  muscles  between  the  shoulder  and  body  is 
peculiar  in  the  gibbon.  It  is  quite  clear 
that  when  we  stand  up  our  shoulders  would 
tend  to  droop  unless  they  were  supported  by 
the  muscles  which  fix  them  to  the  head,  neck, 
and  spine.  Hence  there  is  a  slight  difference 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  shoulder  muscles 


VESTIGIAL  STRUCTURES  85 

of  man,  seeing  that  his  arms  are  no  longer  used 
for  locomotion  as  they  are  in  the  gibbon  and 
great  anthropoids.  Now  the  question  we 
want  to  answer  is  the  following  : — Is  there 
any  evidence  in  the  musculature  of  the  human 
shoulder  which  indicates  that  man  at  any 
stage  of  evolution  used  his  arms  as  anthropoids 
and  as  monkeys  do  ?  There  is.  Occasionally 
a  muscle  is  found  in  man  known  as  the  lifter 
of  the  clavicle  or  collar  bone  (levator  clavi- 
culas)  which  passes  from  the  neck  to  the 
shoulder.  It  is  invariably  present  in  prono- 
grade  monkeys,  in  which  it  advances  the 
shoulder  in  running ;  it  becomes  modified  in 
its  size  and  attachments  in  the  orthograde 
apes  ;  in  man  it  has  almost  disappeared.  We 
cannot  account  for  the  occasional  presence  of 
this  muscle  in  man  except  on  the  theory  of 
a  pronograde  stage  in  man's  evolution. 

I  might  cite  a  number  of  vestigial  muscles  in 
the  human  arm  which  are  well  developed  in 
apes.  Medical  students  are  aware  of  the 
fibrous  remnant  of  a  muscle  (the  latissimo- 
condyloideus)  which  is  found  in  the  posterior 
wall  of  the  armpit,  uniting  a  large  muscle 
passing  from  the  back  (latissimus  dorsi),  and 
another  passing  from  the  shoulder  into  the 
arm  (long  head  of  the  triceps).  In  apes  this 
muscle,  which  is  a  mere  vestige  in  man,  is  a 
source  of  strength  in  climlDing.  Another 
instance  is  seen  in  connexion  with  the  biceps 
muscle  which  bends  the  forearm  on  the  upper 


86  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

arm.  In  gibbons  this  muscle  is  used  for 
bending  the  arm  as  the  animals  swing  along 
with  an  ease  that  a  human  gymnast  might 
well  envy.  It  is  therefore  strong  and  is 
provided  with  two  extra  parts  or  heads. 
Now  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  these  extra  heads 
for  the  biceps  not  unfrequently  appear  in 
man,  indeed  one  of  them,  the  inner,  may  be 
seen  in  ten  per  cent,  of  bodies.  It  is  possible 
that  man  and  the  gibbon  may  have  acquired 
these  extra  heads  independently,  but  this  is 
improbable  when  we  take  into  account  the 
great  number  of  characters  they  have  in 
common.  The  third  instance  I  am  going  to 
cite  of  a  vestigial  or  rudimentary  muscle  in 
the  human  arm  is  the  one  known  as  the 
palmaris  longus.  In  one  person  out  of  ten 
it  is  quite  absent,  but  the  chances  are  in 
favour  of  the  reader  being  able  to  detect  its 
tendon  on  his  own  wrist.  If  he  will  look  at 
the  front  of  the  wrist,  while  holding  his  palm 
and  fingers  in  a  stretched  position  he  will 
probably  see  and  feel  a  small  cord  below  the 
skin  passing  from  the  forearm  into  the  palm 
exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  wrist.  In  the 
arms  of  monkeys  he  would  find  this  muscle 
well  developed  and  performing  a  very  useful 
function.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
monkey  uses  its  hand  both  as  a  hand  and  a 
foot.  The  palmaris  longus  acts  on  the  palm, 
especially  on  the  skin  and  pads  of  the  palm, 
which  are  rough  with  papillse  to  give  firmness 


VESTIGIAL   STRUCTURES  87 

of  grasp  on  the  trees.  The  foot-like  action 
disappears  from  the  hand  with  the  assumption 
of  the  upright  posture,  and  hence  in  the 
anthropoid  apes  and  in  man,  the  palmaris 
loses  its  function  and  becomes  very  small 
or  may  be  quite  absent. 

Beneath  the  calf  of  the  leg  there  is  an  exact 
counterpart  of  the  palmaris  longus.  This 
muscle,  the  plantaris  longus,  is  also  vestigial ; 
it  is  often  little  more  than  a  white  tendinous 
cord,  having  no  muscular  belly ;  in  five  per 
cent,  of  men  it  is  altogether  absent.  The 
anthropoids  are  similar  to  man  in  this  respect ; 
in  the  gorilla  it  has  almost  disappeared. 
In  all  pronograde  apes  it  is  well  developed, 
and  instead  of  ending  on  the  heel  as  in  man, 
passes  into  the  sole  of  the  foot,  where  its 
tendon  spreads  out  to  form  a  stout  membrane 
(the  plantar  fascia)  under  the  skin  of  the  sole. 
As  a  monkey  runs  along  on  all  fours,  its  heel 
will  be  observed  to  be  turned  upwards  off  the 
ground  ;  there  is  a  supple  joint — the  mid- 
tarsal  joint — just  in  front  of  the  ankle,  which 
allows  the  hinder  part  of  the  foot  to  be  bent 
easily  upwards.  A  change  in  posture,  such  as 
is  seen  in  anthropoids,  is  accompanied  by  a 
stiffening  of  the  mid-tarsal  joint ;  the  tarsal 
part  of  the  foot  is  enlarged  to  provide  a  more 
firm  support  for  the  weight  of  the  anthropoid's 
upright  body.  The  heel  is  prolonged  back- 
wards and  the  heel  is  not  bent  upwards  as  in 
monkeys,  but  the  whole  sole  is  applied  flatly 


88  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

to  the  branch  as  the  anthropoid  passes  along 
it  in  an  erect  or  semi-erect  posture.  When 
the  heel  is  thus  applied  to  the  ground  in  con- 
sequence of  the  orthograde  posture  it  presses 
against  the  tendon  of  the  plantaris  ;  indeed, 
the  heel  grows  through  the  tendon,  thus 
cutting  off  the  muscular  part  in  the  leg  from 
the  tendinous  part  in  the  foot.  This  condition 
is  seen  in  the  legs  of  man  and  of  the  anthro- 
poids, and  is  proof  that  all  of  them  have  passed 
through  a  pronograde  stage. 

Very  probably  the  reader  is  aware  that  in 
some  people,  especially  those  who  are  kept 
standing  or  moving  about  for  hours  on  a 
stretch,  such  as  postmen  and  policemen  and 
nurses,  the  arch  of  the  foot  is  apt  to  break 
down,  producing  the  condition  of  fiat  foot. 
Only  in  man  is  the  foot  firmly  arched  ;  it 
must  serve  him  as  a  firm  lever  as  he  steps 
off  one  foot  to  take  another  stride.  Now 
when  flat  foot  develops,  the  break  down  of 
the  arch  occurs  at  the  mid-tarsal  joint — the 
one  which  we  saw  was  flexible  in  the  four- 
footed  monkeys  and  which  became  firmer  as 
the  erect  posture  was  assumed.  People  with 
flat  foot  do  not  dare  to  step  off  their  toes 
because  the  lever  of  the  foot  is  destroyed 
by  a  loosening  or  breaking-up  of  the  mid-tarsal 
joint.  It  would  not  be  true  to  describe  flat 
foot  as  a  relapse  to  a  pronograde  condition, 
yet  in  bending  at  the  mid-tarsal  joint  the 
flat  foot  and  the  monkey's  foot  are  alike 


VESTIGIAL  STRUCTURES  89 

in   that   they   both   allow   bending   to   take 
place. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  man  is  apt 
to  emphasize  those  features  of  his  body  which 
mark  him  off  from  lower  animals  and  from 
other  races  of  mankind.  The  calf  of  the  leg 
is  such  a  feature  ;  it  is  highly  developed  in 
the  white  and  yellow  races — the  European 
and  Mongolian.  In  no  dark-skinned  race 
is  the  calf  prominently  developed,  yet  it  is  in 
the  negroid  races  we  so  often  see  individuals 
who  carry  themselves  gracefully.  Indeed, 
men  who  have  well  developed  calves  often 
walk  with  a  jerky  step.  Anthropoids,  like 
negroid  races,  have  an  ill-developed  calf, 
but  before  pronouncing  whether  such  a  feature 
is  Simian  or  not,  it  will  be  well  to  enquire  into 
its  nature.  The  calf  of  the  leg  is  made  up  of 
two  muscles — the  gastrocnemius  and  soleus  ; 
they  act  on  the  heel.  The  only  difference 
between  man  and  the  anthropoid  apes  is, 
that  in  the  former  the  soleus  muscle  is  larger 
and  has  extended  the  area  of  its  origin  to  the 
tibia,  while  in  the  latter  it  is  confined  to  the 
fibula,  but  occasionally  one  sees  a  tibial  origin 
in  the  gorilla.  There  is  another  difference ; 
while  in  man  the  muscle  ends  in  a  tendon — ■ 
the  tendo  Achillis- -some  inches  above  the 
heel,  in  the  anthropoids  the  muscular  fibres 
almost  reach  the  heel,  the  tendon  being 
short.  The  heel  is  the  lever  for  the  muscles 
of  the  calf ;    if  it  be  long  or  set  horizontally 


90  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

then  a  less  amount  of  muscle  is  required  to 
lift  the  body  on  the  toes  ;  if  the  heel  is  short, 
and  especially  if  it  be  set  obliquely,  as  is  the 
case  when  the  arch  of  the  foot — ^the  instep — 
is  high,  then  the  heel  forms  a  less  powerful 
lever,  and  a  greater  amount  of  muscle  is 
required  to  lift  it.  Now  it  is  notorious  that 
the  heel  of  the  negro  is  long  and  as  his  foot 
has  not  a  high  arch,  it  appears  as  if  it  projected 
backwards  to  a  marked  degree.  With  such 
a  powerful  lever  the  calf -muscles  need  not  be 
large ;  they  act  easily  and  steadily  and  give 
a  graceful  step.  In  Europeans  the  heel  is 
short,  and  it  is  bent  downwards  to  form  the 
posterior  pillar  of  the  arch  of  the  foot.  It 
forms  a  less  powerful  lever  and  hence  the 
need  of  greater  calf-muscles.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  the  history  of  the  calves  of 
our  legs  is  wrapped  up  in  the  evolution  of 
the  orthograde  posture.  The  anthropoid's 
leg  is  a  step  in  advance  of  the  leg  of  a  prono- 
grade  ape ;  man's  leg  is  an  equally  great 
advance  on  the  anthropoid  condition. 

We  have  thus  examined  traces  of  a  former 
pronograde  posture  in  many  parts  of  man's 
body — ^in  the  abdomen,  thorax,  neck,  shoulder, 
arm,  hand,  foot  and  leg ;  we  will  bring  this 
chapter  to  a  conclusion  by  citing  one  other 
instance — this  time  taken  from  within  the 
body  just  above  the  region  of  the  hip  joint. 
In  that  region  of  the  human  body  there  is 
found  the  remains  of  a  muscle  named  the 


VESTIGIAL  STRUCTURES  91 

small  psoas — in  contradistinction  to  the  great 
one  which  bends  the  thigh.  This  small 
muscle  is  often  absent  in  man,  and  if  present 
it  is  small  and  mainly  composed  of  tendinous 
or  fibrous  tissue.  It  springs  from  the  back- 
bone in  the  region  of  the  loins,  and  ends  on 
the  brim  of  the  pelvis,  behind  the  outer  wall 
of  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen.  In  anthro- 
poids it  is  not  much  better  developed  than  in 
man,  but  in  pronograde  apes  it  is  robust  and 
strong.  The  four-footed  apes  employ  this 
muscle  to  flex  the  pelvis  on  the  spine,  its 
action  being  well  seen  as  the  animal  bends  its 
body  preparatory  to  a  jump.  With  the 
disappearance  of  this  action  in  the  upright 
posture,  the  need  of  the  small  psoas  muscle 
disappears.  Its  persistence  in  a  vestigial 
condition  in  man  and  anthropoids  shows  that 
they  have  passed  through  a  pronograde  stage. 
Although  the  evolution  of  the  human 
method  of  progression  was  attended  by  a 
profound  alteration  in  the  form  and  action 
of  every  muscle  and  bone  in  the  lower  limbs, 
yet  this  great  transformation  was  produced 
without  the  appearance  of  any  really  new 
element.  One  new  muscle — the  peroneus 
tertius — did  appear,  and  the  history  of  its 
evolution  throws  an  interesting  side  light  on 
the  origin  of  new  structures.  It  arises  by 
the  outer  fibres  of  the  common  extensor 
muscle  of  the  toes  being  separated.  In  all 
the  anthropoids  the  feet  are  so  ai'ticulated  at 


92  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  ankle  joints  that  the  soles  are  directed 
towards  each  other,  and  only  the  outer  edge 
of  the  foot  conies  to  rest  on  the  ground  when 
the  animal  tries  to  stand.  The  feet  have  a 
tendency  to  assume  a  similar  position  in 
children  at  birth.  The  advantage  of  a  muscle, 
such  as  the  peroneus  tertius,  is  apparent  in 
the  human  foot,  for  it  tends  to  raise  the  outer 
border  of  the  foot,  so  that  the  sole  is  properly 
applied  to  the  ground.  If  we  examine  the 
muscles  which,  rising  from  the  front  of  the  leg, 
cross  the  ankle  joint  to  end  on  the  back  of  the 
foot  on  the  toes  in  fifty  men,  we  shall  find 
every  stage  in  the  evolution  of  this  muscle. 
In  one  man  at  least  it  will  be  undeveloped ; 
in  two  or  perhaps  three  it  will  be  represented 
by  a  part  of  the  tendon  of  the  extensor  muscle 
of  the  little  toe,  which  in  place  of  ending 
entirely  on  the  toe,  sends  a  part  to  end  on 
the  metatarsal  bone  of  the  little  toe.  In 
only  forty  of  the  fifty  men  will  the  peroneus 
tertius  he  found  quite  isolated  from  the  parent 
muscle — ^the  extensor  communis  digitorum, 
and  to  have  a  distinct  origin  from  the  fibula 
in  the  leg,  and  a  separate  insertion  to  the  base 
of  the  fifth  metatarsal  bone  in  the  foot.  In  a 
series  of  fifty  specimens  every  stage  in  the 
isolation  of  this  new  muscle  will  be  seen. 
It  has  never  been  found  in  any  anthropoid, 
and  is  more  often  absent  or  undeveloped  in 
African  than  in  European  races. 

It  can  be  very  well  understood  that  the 


VESTIGIAL   STRUCTURES  93 

extension  of  the  human  thigh,  so  that  it  is 
brought  into  Hne  with  the  trunk,  must  lead  to  a 
considerable  alteration  in  the  structures  of  the 
groin.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  exten- 
sion of  the  thigh  has  weakened  the  human  groin, 
and  made  man  more  liable  to  suffer  from 
ruptures  or  hernias  than  any  other  animal. 
The  escape  of  the  contents  of  the  abdomen — 
which  constitutes  a  hernia — is  liable  to  occur 
at  two  points  :  (1)  at  the  point  where  the 
testicles  perforate  at  the  groin — just  before 
birth ;  (2)  by  another  passage  which  is 
formed  at  the  inner  side  of  the  great  vessels 
of  the  thigh.  The  second  passage  is  only 
found  in  man,  and  is  due  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  human  thigh  is  attached  to  the 
pelvis.  The  first  opening  is  found  in  nearly 
all  mammals,  but  in  man — owing  to  the  width 
of  the  thigh  and  groin — the  passage  made  by 
the  testicle  is  not  so  well  protected  by  suitable 
closing  or  sphincter  muscles  as  in  other 
mammals.  Thus  man's  upright  posture  has 
been  obtained  at  a  sacrifice  ;  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  groin  has  weakened  the  abdominal 
wall  at  the  root  of  the  thigh  and  made  him 
liable  to  a  malady  which  cripples  the  strength 
of  many  men.  The  ligament  which  crosses 
the  groin— -known  as  Poupart's  ligament — 
is  peculiar  to  man,  but  the  complex  of  struc- 
tures out  of  which  it  has  been  evolved  is 
*  very  apparent  in  the  groins  of  the  anthropoid 
apes. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   HUMAN  BODY 

The  reader  will  observe  that  I  am  not  follow- 
ing the  orderly  methods  of  those  who  write 
text-books  of  anatomy ;  there  is  no  attempt 
here  to  describe  one  part  of  the  body  after 
another  in  regular  sequence.  My  aim  is 
rather  to  bring  forward  the  general  opinions 
held  by  those  who  have  made  a  special  study 
of  the  human  body.  In  the  four  chapters 
which  precede  this  one  I  have  touched  on 
the  evidence  which  has  led  us  to  regard  man 
as  having  arisen  in  a  long  past  period  in  com- 
mon with  the  animals  to  which  he  is  allied 
in  structure.  If  such  is  his  origin,  then  we 
ought  to  find  further  evidence  of  it  during  the 
various  stages  he  passes  through  before 
birth.  Indeed,  it  was  at  one  time  expected 
that  when  we  came  to  know  all  the  changes 
which  the  human  body  passes  through  from 
conception  to  birth,  we  should  have  a  complete 
picture  of  the  past  history  of  mankind.  It 
was  expected  that  the  embryo  would  recapitu- 
late the  features  of  its  ancestors  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest  forms  in  the  animal 

94 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY      95 

kingdom.  Now  that  the  appearances  of  the 
embryo  at  all  ages  are  known,  the  general 
feeling  is  one  of  disappointment ;  the  human 
embryo  at  no  stage  is  anthropoid  in  its 
appearance.  The  truth  is,  we  expected  too 
much  ;  we  failed  to  realize  that  higher  animals 
are  adapted  for  two  lives — one  a  peculiar 
vegetative  existence  's\4thin  the  womb,  and 
the  second  a  conscious  life  which  commences 
with  birth.  The  most  marvellous  adaptations 
to  be  seen  in  our  bodies  are  those  which 
relate  to  the  phase  before  birth.  At  a  very 
early  stage  of  development  we  see  the  embryo 
become  enveloped  within  a  double-coated 
hull  or  membrane,  developed  as  an  outgrowth 
from  its  own  body.  Within  these  membranes 
the  embryo  develops,  but  there  never  was, 
there  could  not  be,  an  individual  or  ancestor 
which  passed  its  whole  life  thus  enclosed  within 
an  envelope  of  foetal  membranes.  The  inner 
of  these,  membranes — the  amnion — is  filled 
with  clear  fluid  within  which  the  embryo 
floats,  evenly  supported  on  all  sides  and  pro- 
tected from  irregular  pressures  which  would 
distort  its  delicate  growing  tissues.  The 
outer  membrane — the  chorion — gives  rise  to 
the  placenta  which  fixes  itself  to  the  mother's 
womb  and  draws  from  it  nourishment  and 
oxygen  for  the  supply  of  the  embryo,  which  as 
is  grows  and  takes  on  a  definite  form  comes 
to  have  the  name  of  foetus  applied  to  it.  The 
embryo  develops  its  own  bk>od  and  its  own 


96  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

vessels  ;  its  circulation  at  all  times  is  distinct 
from  that  of  the  mother;  there  is  no  inter- 
mingling of  maternal  and  foetal  blood.  The 
foetus  is  a  parasite  ;  beginnings  of  a  digestive 
and  of  a  respiratory  system  appear  in  it,  but 
they  do  no  work ;  these  functions  are  per- 
formed by  the  placenta.  All  the  early  stages 
of  development  of  the  embryo  are  marked  by 
the  efforts  to  produce  the  structures  which 
are  necessary  for  foetal  life.  The  provision  of 
such  structures  marks  the  true  nature  of  the 
embryo.  The  conditions  under  which  the 
embryo  and  foetus  live,  grow,  and  draw  their 
nourishment,  are  very  different  from  those 
which  surround  low  forms  of  animal  life. 
We  cannot  expect  the  embryo  to  reproduce 
for  us  the  early  ancestral  stages  of  life  ;  these 
have  been  much  modified  and  some  of  them 
replaced  to  suit  the  phase  of  existence  within 
the  womb. 

Yet  in  a  broad  way  we  see  various  stages 
indicated  during  the  building  up  of  our  bodies. 
The  fertilized  egg  or  ovum,  which  forms  the 
commencing  stage  for  each  one  of  us,  represents 
in  its  structure  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life 
— the  protozoa.  The  ovum,  like  a  protozoon, 
is  a  cell  with  a  nucleus — so  small  that  seven 
hundred  of  them  could  be  laid  side  by  side  on 
a  line  scarcely  an  inch  in  length.  The  ovum 
divides,  each  cell  thus  formed  redivides,  the 
cells  arranging  themselves  so  as  to  form  a 
minute  plate-like  structure — ^the  embryo.     It 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY     97 

is  impossible  to  explain  certain  appearances 
of  the  embryo,  the  streak  seen  along  it,  and 
an  opening — the  blastopore  or  primitive 
mouth — which  perforates  the  embryonic  plate, 
unless  we  suppose  that  we  had  in  our  ancestry 
a  form  built  on  the  same  type  as  the  hydra 
made  familiar  to  us  in  our  text-books  on 
biology.  The  blastopore  is  regarded  as  repre- 
senting the  mouth  of  a  hydra-like  animal ; 
it  is  soon  closed  in  the  human  embryo,  and 
by  the  third  week  there  is  a  new  mouth  formed 
at  the  opposite  end  of  the  embryonic  body, 
which  becomes  the  permanent  one.  The 
early  formation  of  the  foetal  membranes, 
which  enclose  the  embryo,  and  the  accumula- 
tion of  yolk  within  the  embryo — an  early 
provision  for  nourishment — mask  and  disturb 
the  hydra-like  appearance  of  the  embryo. 
In  the  next  stage  we  see  the  rudiments  of  the 
body  cavity  being  formed — the  pleural  and 
peritoneal  cavities  which  enclose  the  viscera  of 
the  thorax  and  abdomen.  During  the  develop- 
ment of  worms  and  many  other  invertebrates, 
we  see  body  cavities  being  produced  in  essen- 
tially the  same  manner  as  in  us,  and  we  there- 
fore suppose  that  our  ancestry  and  theirs  must 
have  passed  through  a  common  stage.  At  the 
end  of  the  second  week  we  see  transverse  lines 
appear  one  after  another  on  the  upper  or  dorsal 
surface  of  the  embryonic  plate,  which  mark  out 
the  embryonic  body  into  a  series  of  segments, 
very    similar    in    appearance.      These    body 

G 


98  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

segments  remain  particularly  distinct  in  worms, 
insects  and  crustaceans  ;  they  can  also  be  seen 
in  all  vertebrate  animals,  when  the  skin  is 
removed.  In  fishes,  the  segmental  arrangement 
of  the  muscles,  as  well  as  of  the  vertebrae  and 
ribs,  is  especially  distinct.  In  our  bodies  the 
vertebrae  and  ribs  still  mark  the  primitive  seg- 
ments, and  the  intercostal  muscles  and  some  of 
those  which  act  on  the  spine  still  preserve  the 
original  segmented  condition.  By  the  end  of 
the  third  week,  when  the  human  embryo  is 
about  one-sixth  of  an  inch  in  length,  the  pro- 
cess of  segmentation  is  complete.  In  a  broad 
way,  in  spite  of  special  developmental  adapta- 
tions, the  human  embryo  does  recapitulate 
some  early  stages  of  evolution. 

It  is  during  the  third  week  that  there 
appears  on  the  neck  of  the  embryo  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  manifestations  of  a  past 
stage  of  existence.  On  each  side  four  grooves 
or  depressions  are  formed.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  these  represent  the  gill  slits  of 
fishes.  We  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  arches  on  the  front  and  sides  of  the  neck  of 
the  embryo  represent  the  arches  which  carry 
gills,  for  into  each  one  of  them  the  aorta  from 
the  heart  sends  a  branch,  in  the  same  manner 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  gill  arches  of  fishes. 
No  gills  are  actually  developed  because  the 
placenta  serves  their  purpose — ^that  of  respira- 
tion. Indeed,  the  clefts  never  open,  but  part 
of  the  first  cleft  remains,  and  forms  the  ear 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   BODY     99 

passage.  Our  ears  are  developed  round  the 
upper  part  of  the  first  cleft.  The  lower  jaw 
is  developed  in  the  first  arch  ;  the  hyoid  bone, 
on  which  the  base  of  the  tongue  is  set,  is 
formed  within  the  second  and  third  arches. 
The  cartilages  of  the  larynx — the  thyroid 
and  cricoid,  and  also  the  cartilaginous  rings 
of  the  trachea  and  bronchi,  are  formed  within 
the  fourth  and  fifth  arches.  It  is  passing 
strange  that  we  can  recognize  the  same 
skeletal  parts  in  our  throats  as  we  can  see  in 
the  gill  region  of  fishes.  By  the  sixth  week 
all  outward  appearance  of  gill  slits  is  lost ; 
the  manner  in  which  the  hinder  ones  disappear 
is  instructive.  In  certain  fishes  the  gills  are 
covered  by  a  lid  or  operculum,  which  grows 
back  over  them  from  the  second  arch,  thus 
enclosing  a  gill  chamber.  In  the  human 
embryo  a  similar  process  is  seen  to  occur. 
The  third  and  fourth  clefts  are  covered  by  a 
fold  which  grows  backwards  over  them  from 
the  substances  of  the  second  arch,  and  as  it 
grows  back  the  clefts  and  gill  chamber  are 
obliterated.  This  is  not  always  the  case, 
however.  The  surgeon  is  frequently  consulted 
by  patients  who  complain  of  a  discharge 
which  escapes  from  a  small  opening  situated 
on  the  one  or  the  other  side  of  the  neck  just 
above  the  inner  end  of  the  collar-bone.  When 
a  probe  is  passed  within  the  opening  it 
passes  upwards  in  the  direction  of  the  larynx 
for  perhaps  an  inch  or  more.     Such  a  fistula  or 


100  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

opening  represents  the  unclosed  gill  chamber. 
Occasionally  other  remains  of  gill  clefts  are 
found  as  tags  of  skin  or  as  auricular  append- 
ages on  the  upper  part  of  the  side  or  front  of 
the  neck.  In  some  breeds  of  goats  such 
appendages  occur  constantly. 

Some  of  the  common  malformations  of  the 
body  appear  to  reproduce  a  condition  which  is 
only  seen  in  fishes.  The  deformity  known  as 
"  hare-lip  "  is  a  case  in  point.  The  name, 
however,  is  a  misnomer,  for  the  cleft  in  the 
upper  lip  of  the  hare  is  situated  below  the 
septum  of  the  nose  and  separates  the  lip  into' 
a  right  and  left  half.  The  cleft,  however, 
which  is  apt  to  appear  in  the  human  upper 
lip  occurs  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  of  the 
middle  line  ;  the  cleft  may  be  double,  so  that 
the  lip  is  divided  into  a  middle  part  attached 
to  the  septum  of  the  nose  and  two  larger 
lateral  parts  continuous  with  the  cheeks. 
The  explanation  is  found  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  upper  lip  is  formed  in  the  foetus  ; 
it  is  produced  by  the  fusion  of  three  parts. 
If  these  fail  to  unite,  the  condition  of  double 
hare  lip  is  produced,  leaving  a  cleft  or  groove 
between  the  nostrils  and  the  mouth.  Now 
the  only  adult  vertebrate  animals  in  which 
such  a  condition  is  seen  to  persist  is  the  group 
of  fishes  to  which  the  sharks  and  rays  belong. 
In  "  hare-lip,"  then,  we  appear  to  see  the 
reproduction  of  a  condition  known  to  occur 
only  in  gill-breathing  vertebrates. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY    101 

Cleft  palate  is  often  combined  with  hare 
lip,  but  it  represents  an  arrest  at  a  later  stage 
of  evolution.  A  complete  palate,  such  as  is 
seen  in  man,  occurs  only  in  mammals.  The 
palate  has  been  evolved  in  connexion  with 
mastication ;  it  separates  the  respiratory 
passage  of  the  nose  from  the  mouth,  so  that 
the  animal,  as  it  masticates  a  mouthful  of 
food,  may  continue  to  breathe  freely.  While 
the  parts  of  the  upper  lip  are  united  before  the 
end  of  the  second  month  of  development,  the 
right  and  left  outgrowths  which  meet  along 
the  roof  of  the  mouth  and  form  the  palate  are 
not  completely  joined  until  the  end  of  the 
third  month.  In  cases  of  cleft  palate  the 
process  of  fusion  does  not  take  place.  Another 
use  of  the  palate  is  seen  at  birth.  If  it  is 
cleft,  the  child  has  a  difficulty  in  sucking 
and  swallowing,  for  the  milk  regurgitates 
through  the  nose.  In  amphibia,  reptiles 
and  birds,  the  three  parts  representing  the 
upper  lip  unite,  but  an  open  cleft  remains 
between  the  mouth  and  the  nose.  In  a 
child  suffering  from  cleft  palate  we  see 
reproduced  a  reptilian  condition,  and  have 
at  the  same  time  an  illustration  of  the  uses  of 
the  palate. 

Organs  are  often  arrested  in  their  develop- 
ment on  the  point  of  passing  from  one  stage 
to  another.  Children  are  occasionally  born 
with  malformed  hearts,  which  illustrate  the 
truth   of   this    statement.     In   gill-breathing 


102  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

animals,  the  chief  function  of  the  heart  is  to 
pump  the  blood  to  the  gills  ;  after  leaving  the 
gills  the  oxygenated  blood  enters  the  arteries 
and  is  circulated  to  the  tissues  of  the  body. 
When  gills  are  replaced  by  lungs,  the  heart 
becomes  changed  in  form  and  in  function. 
Its  main  duty  is  then  to  pump  blood  to  the 
body,  only  a  part  of  the  heart — the  right 
ventricle — being  set  aside  to  supply  blood 
to  the  lungs.  Now,  at  the  time  when  the  gill 
clefts  appear  in  the  neck  of  the  human  embryo, 
the  heart  is  like  that  of  a  fish.  It  is  composed 
of  four  chambers,  the  one  leading  to  the 
other.  The  first  of  these  is  named  the  sinus 
venosus  ;  it  receives  the  blood  from  the  body 
and  passes  it  on  to  the  next  chamber,  the 
auricle.  It  in  turn  sends  the  blood  to  the 
chief  chamber — the  ventricle.  There  is  a 
fourth  chamber — the  bulbus  cordis — situated 
between  the  ventricle  and  the  aorta.  The 
aorta  carries  the  blood  to  the  gill  arches. 
When  the  gill  arches  begin  to  disappear  in 
the  human  embryo  and  the  rudiments  of  the 
lungs  are  formed,  we  see  the  heart,  still  beating, 
for  it  starts  to  beat  very  early,  begin  to  under- 
go a  series  of  changes.  The  first  chamber — 
the  sinus — becomes  incorporated  in  the  right 
side  of  the  auricle,  while  the  fourth  chamber, 
or  bulbus,  sinks  within  and  forms  part  of  the 
ventricle.  While  the  sinus  and  bulbus  are 
being  included,  developmental  changes  are 
seen  to  be  taking  place  in  the  auricle  and 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY    103 

ventricle,  which  lead  to  a  division  of  each 
of  these  into  right  and  left  cavities.  The 
right  chambers  receive  the  venous  blood  and 
pass  it  onwards  to  the  lungs  and  placenta, 
while  the  left  receive  the  blood  from  the 
lungs  and  placenta  and  supply  it  to  the 
body.  The  commonest  malformation  of  the 
human  heart  is  due  to  an  arrest  of  develop- 
ment during  the  passage  from  the  gill  breath- 
ing to  the  lung  breathing  stage.  In  the 
malformed  hearts  of  children  one  usually 
finds  that  the  fourth  chamber,  or  bulbus,  has 
been  incompletely  incorporated  in  the  right 
ventricle,  and  that  it  is  so  small  that  the  blood 
can  scarcely  pass  into  the  pulmonary  artery 
and  thus  reach  the  lungs.  Indeed,  such  chil- 
dren would  die  from  suffocation  at  birth  were 
it  not  that  the  septum  between  the  ventricles 
is  incomplete,  so  that  the  impure  blood  can 
pass  from  the  right  ventricle  to  the  left,  and 
be  pumped  with  the  pure  blood  to  the  body. 
Some  of  it,  by  an  indirect  channel,  reaches 
the  lungs,  where  it  is  oxygenated,  and  thus 
the  child  is  prevented  from  dying  of  asphyxia. 
In  some  cases,  there  is  only  a  common  ventricle 
as  in  the  fishes  and  amphibia,  the  septum,  or 
partition  which  separates  the  original  ventricle 
into  right  and  left  chambers,  having  failed  to 
form.  The  rapid  transformation  of  the  heart  of 
the  embryo  from  a  simple  pump  as  in  fishes  into 
the  double-chambered  heart  of  the  mammal  is 
very  wonderful,  and  yet  not  more  so  than  the 


104  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

transformation  which  produces  a  butterfly 
from  a  caterpillar. 

We  see  a  rigid  economy  being  practised  in 
the  human  embryo,  as  the  branchial  or  gill 
stage  is  replaced  by  a  pulmonary  system. 
There  are  altogether  six  pairs  of  gill  arches ; 
into  each  of  these  the  aorta  sends  a  vessel,  or 
stem.  When  the  branchial  arches  disappear, 
the  aortic  branches  within  some  of  them  are 
utilized  for  other  purposes.  Those  in  the 
third  pair  of  arches  form  part  of  the  two 
internal  carotid  arteries;  the  vessel  of  the 
fourth  arch  on  the  left  side  forms  the  bend  of 
the  aorta,  while  the  sixth  one  of  the  left  side 
has  a  most  remarkable  history  (see  Fig.  2). 
Part  of  it  becomes  the  stem  of  the  pulmonary 
artery — ^the  great  vessel  to  the  lungs — while 
the  other  part  remains  open  only  during  foetal 
life.  This  latter  part,  which  is  known  as  the 
ductus  arteriosus,  allows  the  blood  to  pass  from 
the  pulmonary  artery  to  the  aorta  (Fig.  2).  The 
need  for  such  a  channel  in  the  foetus  will  be  very 
apparent  to  the  reader,  when  he  remembers 
that  the  lungs  come  into  use  only  at  birth. 
Before  then  the  placenta  serves  the  purposes 
of  respiration.  The  presence  of  a  communica- 
tion between  the  pulmonary  artery  and  aorta 
allows  the  right  ventricle  to  pump  the  impure 
blood  into  the  aorta  and  thus  to  the  placenta, 
instead  of  to  the  lungs.  At  birth  the  ductus 
begins  to  close  and  is  soon  occluded,  so  that 
the  blood  can  no  longer  enter  the  aorta  but 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY     105 


'to  Brain 
^4^  Arch 

'Z'XArch 
>sa  Arch 

W^Arch 

5{*  Arch 
ett  Arch 

to  Right  Lung 
(tJMT  AuhlCLB 


ttl9KT  WtHTmCLS. 


to  Braifl 


EXTERNAi, 

Qarotid  : 

ARTEPy   \ 

\ 

/NTERNAU 
CAROTIQ  / 


Aaai  %r  AOHtTK 

to  Lett  Arm 

Ductus  artekiowb 
to  ten  Lung 

Left  AudklE! 


Aorta 
Lerr  vtSTRtcit, 


Arteries  to 
placenta 


"FlQ.  2. — Showing  how  the  great  arteries  of  the  thorax 
and  neck  are  derived  from  the  arteries  of  the  gill- 
arches. 


106  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

must  pass  to  the  lungs  (Fig.  2).  We  see,  then,  a 
part  of  the  artery  of  a  gill  arch  being  employed 
to  secure  a  placental  respiration  in  the  foetus, 
and  then  suddenly  closed  up  to  bring  about 
a  pulmonary  respiration  in  the  newly  born 
child. 

The  developmental  changes  which  have  just 
been  described  relate  to  remote  stages  in  the 
evolution  of  the  human  body  ;  those  now  to  be 
described  seem  to  belong  to  a  later  stage. 
When  the  hinder  end  of  the  body  of  a  human 
foetus  is  examined  during  the  second  month  of 
development,  it  is  seen  that  the  bowel,  the 
genital  and  urinary  ducts  end  in  a  common 
chamber,  or  cloaca.  By  the  end  of  the  third 
month  certain  changes  have  occurred,  which 
separate  the  opening  of  the  bowel  from  the 
uro-genital  passage.  Occasionally  children 
are  born  in  which  that  separation  has  failed 
to  occur,  so  that  there  is  present  only  the 
primitive  passage.  When  this  condition  is 
contrasted  with  the  arrangement  of  parts 
seen  in  vertebrate  animals,  we  find  that  it  is 
similar  to  the  condition  present  in  fishes, 
amphibia,  reptiles,  birds  and  in  the  very 
lowest  mammals  in  which  there  is  only  one 
passage — ^the  cloaca.  In  all  the  higher  mam- 
mals there  are  two  passages,  and  we  infer  that 
the  division  of  the  posterior  vent  must  have 
occurred  when  the  marsupial  stock  branched 
off  from  the  ancestral  line  of  the  higher  mam- 
mals and  therefore  at  a  date  long  prior  to  the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY     107 

appearance  of  th-e  human  stock.  In  the  subjects 
of  the  unfortunate  malformation  just  described, 
we  see  a  reversion  to  a  stage  of  evolution  much 
less  remote  than  those  maldevelopments  con- 
nected with  the  imperfect  heart  and  branchial 
arches. 

The  instances  we  have  so  far  cited  from 
the  development  of  the  human  body  indicate 
in  only  a  general  way  certain  evolutionary 
phases  which  are  long  past.  We  are  now 
to  see  if  there  are  any  malformations  which 
indicate  for  us  one  of  the  later  phases  of  human 
evolution — especially  such  a  stage  as  we 
may  presume  to  have  existed  when  the  human 
and  anthropoid  stocks  diverged.  There  are 
two  parts  of  the  body  which  may  be  expected 
to  supply  us  with  evidence.  These  are  the 
essentially  human  structures — the  foot  and 
the  brain.  So  far  as  concerns  the  foot,  it  may 
be  said  definitely  that  a  child  has  never 
been  seen  with  an  anthropoid  foot.  Yet 
there  is  one  form  of  congenital  malformation 
of  the  foot — congenital  club  foot — which  has 
certain  resemblances  to  the  ape's  foot.  It 
is  like  the  ape's,  in  that  the  feet  are  turned 
inwards,  so  that  the  soles  face  each  other ; 
when  the  child  walks  it  places  the  outer  border 
of  the  foot  on  the  ground  as  the  ape  does.  But 
the  great  toe  differs  from  that  of  the  ape  ; 
it  is  not  set  on  the  sole  as  the  thumb  is  in  the 
hand.  Yet  in  the  sole  of  the  foot  of  even  the 
normal   child   there  may  be  seen  the  same 


108  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

fold  which  is  present  in  the  ape's  foot  between 
the  root  or  ball  of  the  great  toe  and  the  rest 
of  the  sole.  In  Eastern  races  the  great  toe 
can  be  used  for  grasping  objects. 

The  brain  may  be  arrested  in  its  develop- 
ment. The  best  examples  are  to  be  found  in 
small-headed  or  microcephalic  idiots.  There 
are  many  cases  on  record,  but  the  one  I  propose 
to  bring  before  the  reader  is  the  brain  of  "  Joe," 
which  was  investigated  by  the  late  Professor 
Cunningham — one  of  the  best  anatomists  of 
our  time.  Joe's  brain  weight  was  560  grammes, 
900  less  than  that  of  a  normal  man  and  only 
slightly  heavier  than  that  of  a  gorilla.  He 
was  5  ft.  9  in.  high  and  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty.  His  head  was  very  small,  especially 
in  comparison  with  his  face,  which  was  of 
normal  proportions.  He  spent  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  in  the  county  asylum  of  Lancashire, 
where  he  tended  the  sheep,  keeping  them 
within  "  prescribed  limits  "  with  great  vigil- 
ance for  days  together.  He  had  command  of 
a  considerable  number  of  words  and  could 
frame  sentences.  The  expression  of  his  face 
"  was  distinctly  human,"  and  although  he 
had  a  vacant  imbecile  look,  his  face  clearly 
reflected  every  emotion  in  a  perfectly  human 
fashion.  He  knew  a  sixpence  from  a  f ourpenny 
bit ;  he  could  count  his  fingers,  but  did  not 
know  much  about  the  divisions  of  time ; 
he  was  easily  puzzled,  and  did  not  know  how 
many  years  there  were  in  a  week* 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY    109 

When  "  Joe  "  died,  his  brain  was  found  to 
be  not  only  small  in  size,  but  to  have  its 
fissures  and  convolutions  arranged  in  a  very- 
simple  manner.  Professor  Cunningham  was 
an  extremely  judicious  and  cautious  observer. 
The  features  of  "  Joe's  "  brain  could  not  be 
explained  by  supposing  it  had  simply  been 
arrested  at  a  certain  stage  of  development, 
for  although  the  fissures  and  convolutions  had 
resemblance  to  the  condition  seen  in  the  foetal 
brain  in  the  seventh  month,  yet  there  were 
other  additional  and  modifying  features  which 
he  was  inclined  to  regard  as  the  reproduction 
— an  imperfect  reproduction  perhaps — of  a 
stage  in  the  evolution  of  the  human  brain. 
Certain  appearances  were  really  anthropoid  in 
nature,  yet  in  complexity  of  pattern  "  Joe's  " 
brain  was  simpler  than  that  of  a  chimpanzee. 
The  posterior  or  occipital  part  of  the  cerebrum 
was  particularly  small ;  we  know  that  it  is 
just  this  part  which  forms  a  relatively  large 
part  of  the  brain  of  the  primates.  The  fissure 
of  Sylvius  was  placed  obliquely,  and  that  area 
of  the  brain — the  Island  of  Reil — which  is 
submerged  and  hid  in  the  fissure  in  the 
normal  human  brain,  was  exposed  and  its 
front  part  was  continuous  with  the  inferior 
frontal  convolution  as  in  anthropoids.  The 
parts  of  the  brain  connected  with  speech  were 
as  small  as  in  the  anthropoid  ape.  It  seems 
possible  then  that  such  a  brain  as  that  of 
"  Joe  "  does  represent,  in  a  disturbed  and 


110  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

somewhat  distorted  manner,  an  actual  stage 
in  the  evolution  of  the  human  brain. 

The  most  remarkable  instance  of  the  close 
relationship  between  the  anthropoids  and  man 
is  to  be  found  in  their  earliest  stages  of  develop- 
ment. It  is  only  within  the  last  fifteen  years 
that  we  have  got  to  know  these  stages.  The 
late  Professor  Emil  Selenka  spent  his  fortune 
and  his  leisure  in  procuring  and  in  investigat- 
ing the  embryos  of  anthropoid  apes,  and 
several  observers,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
have  published  exact  accounts  of  human 
embryos  under  fourteen  days  old  during  quite 
recent  years.  Not  only  is  the  uterus  of  the 
anthropoid  and  of  mankind  similar  in  form, 
but  their  embryos  become  implanted  in  an 
exactly  similar  manner,  a  manner  which  is 
only  known  to  occur  in  them. 

In  mammals  generally  the  embryo  is  dis- 
tinctly in  process  of  formation  before  the 
double  membranes  grow  up  and  envelop  it 
(p.  95) ;  in  man  and  anthropoids  the  formation 
of  the  embryo  remains  in  abeyance  until  the 
membranes  are  developed.  Once  these  are 
completed,  the  small  knob  of  cells  which 
represents  the  embryo  begins  to  take  on 
a  definite  shape.  The  reader  will  have  ob- 
served that  I  have  often  employed  posture 
to  explain  the  many  points  of  similarity 
in  the  structure  of  anthropoid  and  man, 
and  will  at  last  feel  certain  that  in  this  case 
no  such  explanation  can  be  offered.     On  the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BODY    111 

contrary,  it  is  my  opinion  that,  by  some  mech- 
anism which  we  do  not  know  at  present,  the 
early  development  of  the  embryo  has  been 
changedby  the  posture  of  its  parent.  The  uterus 
is  situated  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  abdomen. 
In  upright  primates  it  is  exposed  to  a  special 
degree  of  pressure,  not  only  from  the  weight 
of  the  superincumbent  viscera,  but  also  from 
the  compressing  action  of  the  musculature  of 
the  abdominal  wall  w^hich  comes  into  action 
in  balancing  and  in  all  great  muscular  exertion. 
Whether  this  explanation  w^ill  stand  the  test 
of  time  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  the 
resemblance  which  we  see  between  man  and 
the  anthropoids  in  the  adult  stage  is  already 
present  in  the  very  earliest  stages  of  develop- 
m.ent. 

It  will  be  now  apparent  to  the  reader  why 
the  various  stages  in  the  ancestry  of  man  are 
so  dimly  represented  during  the  development 
of  the  human  body.  It  is  because  all  the 
processes  of  development  are  modified  to 
adapt  the  embryo  and  foetus  to  an  intra- 
uterine and  parasitic  life.  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, explain  the  origin  of  the  human 
body  from  a  single  cell,  the  appearance 
of  gill  arches,  the  formation  of  a  cloaca  and 
the  occurrence  of  other  developmental  pro- 
cesses, unless  we  suppose  man  to  have  been 
evolved  from  the  very  lowest  forms  of  animal 
life.  We  see  traces  of  various  stages  of  his 
evolution.      Many    of    his    most    primitive 


112  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

embryological  structures  he  shares  with  other 
vertebrates.  These  have  not  been  mentioned. 
For  example,  we  see  during  his  development 
three  sets  of  renal  organs  appear,  the  one 
succeeding  the  other.  There  is  first  the 
pronephros  or  head  kidney  which  persists  as  a 
small  appendage  of  the  testicle  of  man  and  of 
the  Fallopian  tube  (oviduct)  of  woman.  Then 
a  second  kidney — the  mesonephros  or  Wolffian 
body  appears.  This  renal  organ  forms  part 
of  the  seminiferous  duct  system  in  man  and  a 
vestigial  organ  in  the  broad  ligament  of  the 
uterus  in  women.  It  is  not  unfrequently  the 
seat  of  disease  in  women.  Then  the  third  or 
final  renal  organ — ^the  kidney — appears.  In 
having  a  triple  succession  of  renal  organs  man 
is  like  other  mammals. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

HUMAN   MONSTERS   AND   MALFORMATION 

In  several  of  the  preceding  chapters  we  have 
been  content  to  sit  still  and  discuss  various 
aspects  of  the  human  body.  The  time  seems 
to  have  arrived  when  we  should  again  see  and 
examine  the  objects  which  are  to  be  the  subject 
of  consideration.  We  propose  then  to  revisit 
the  Hunterian  Museum  where  we  may  critic- 
ally examine  the  most  complete  collection 
which  has  ever  been  brought  together  to 
illustrate  the  various  monstrous  forms  which 
the  human  and  also  the  animal  body  occasion- 
ally assume.  Before  actually  surveying  the 
gallery  of  the  museum  in  which  the  terato- 
logical  collection — so  this  series  is  named — is 
arranged  it  will  be  to  our  advantage  to  see  first 
the  specimens  which  illustrate  the  formation 
of  normal  children.  Two  preparations  show 
us  that  as  many  as  five  children  may  be  pro- 
duced at  one  birth — all  of  which  are  small  but 
normal  in  shape.  Triplets  are  not  uncommon ; 
in  every  7000  announcements  of  birth  one 
may  expect  to  hear  of  a  case  of  triplets.  Twins 
are  common ;  in  Ireland  a  twin  birth  has  a 
H  113 


114  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

frequency  of  one  in  seventy-two,  in  England 
about  one  in  seventy-five,  and  in  France  about 
one  in  a  hundred.  In  man,  as  in  all  the 
higher  primates,  one  at  a  birth  is  the  rule. 
Indeed  I  cannot  remember  any  case  of  twins 
being  born  to  either  monkeys  or  anthropoids. 
We  may  regard  the  production  of  twins  in 
the  higher  primates  as  an  abnormality.  We 
shall  see  presently  that  nearly  all  human 
monsters  are  the  result  of  an  imperfect 
production  of  twins. 

On  the  adjoining  shelves  we  have  an 
opportunity  of  verifying  the  fact  that  there  are 
two  kinds  of  twins.  In  one  form  we  see  that 
each  foetus  is  wrapped  in  its  own  membranes  ; 
each  has  its  own  umbilical  cord  which  conveys 
the  blood  to  and  from  the  placenta  ;  the  two 
placentas  may  be  partly  or  completely  fused. 
In  the  other  kind  the  two  foetuses  are  enclosed 
together  within  the  same  envelope  of  mem- 
branes ;  each  has  a  cord  but  they  end  on  the 
same  placenta.  These  two  varieties  of  twins 
we  believe  arise  quite  differently  ;  in  the  first 
kind  there  were  two  ova,  both  of  which  were 
fertilized;  in  the  second  there  was  but  one 
ovum,  which,  at  an  early  stage  of  development, 
divided  into  two  and  thus  gave  rise  to  two 
embryos.  In  the  first  kind  the  twins  may  be 
of  opposite  sex  and  with  no  greater  resemb- 
lance to  each  other  than  a  brother  has  to  a 
sister,  but  in  the  second  kind  they  are  "  iden- 
tical twins  "  both  being  of  the  same  sex  and 


MONSTERS  AND  MALFORMATION    115 

so  alike  that  even  the  nurse  finds  a  difficulty 
in  telling  one  from  the  other. 

It  is  in  the  production  of  identical  twins 
that  monsters  arise.  A  fowl's  egg  which  has 
been  prepared  to  show  the  embryo  of  a  chick 
at  the  end  of  the  twenty-fourth  hour  of  incuba- 
tion helps  us  to  understand  the  process.  The 
chick  embryo  forms  a  small  plate,  spread  out 
on  the  yolk.  With  a  magnifying  glass  it 
can  be  seen  that  the  posterior  end  of  this 
particular  embryo  has  undergone  a  process 
of  division  and  that  while  the  head  end  shows 
the  rudiment  of  but  one  chick,  the  hind  end 
possesses  the  basis  for  two.  Another  specimen 
shows  a  subdivision  or  duplication  of  both 
the  front  and  hind  end  of  the  embryo,  a 
condition  which  would  result  in  twin  chicks 
joined  together  by  their  bodies.  We  are  now 
in  a  position  to  understand  the  various  forms 
of  human  monsters  shown  in  the  teratological 
collection. 

The  specimens  in  the  first  case  of  the  terato- 
logical gallery  need  not  detain  us,  yet  in  a  way 
they  are  very  interesting.  They  show  to  us 
the  inward  parts  of  individuals  in  whom  the 
viscera  have  been  transposed.  The  apex  of  the 
heart  is  directed  towards  the  right  side,  and 
its  beat,  instead  of  being  felt  during  life  in  the 
fifth  intercostal  space  of  the  left  side  of  the 
chest,  is  palpable  in  the  corresponding  space 
of  the  right  side.  The  arch  of  the  aorta,  instead 
of   bending  to  the  left   turns  to  the   right. 


116  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

The  caecum  and  appendix  occupy  the  left 
side  of  the  lower  abdominal  space  in  place  of 
the  right.  In  short  we  see  the  viscera  reversed 
as  in  a  mirror.  Such  a  condition  is  not  com- 
mon although  many  cases  have  been  placed 
on  record,  but  no  satisfactory  explanation 
has  been  given  of  how  the  transposition  has 
been  produced  embryologically. 

The  next  series  of  specimens  shows  us  pro- 
ducts of  human  birth  which  none  but  an 
expert  would  recognize  as  children.  They 
seem  shapeless  packages  wrapped  in  wrinkled 
human  skin ;  no  head,  merely  a  trunk  with 
projecting  parts  which  simulate  limbs.  Some 
are  cut  open  to  show  that  within  them  there 
are  a  backbone,  a  stomach,  liver  and  bowel, 
but  there  is  no  brain  and  the  heart  does  not 
seem  capable  of  acting  as  a  pump.  We  have 
come  to  know  that  all  of  these  "  acardiac  " 
or  "  parasitic  "  foetuses  are  never  born  alone  ; 
they  are  the  twin  of  a  normal  child.  The 
developmental  separation  of  the  twins  was 
almost  complete ;  the  only  junction  which 
persisted  was  a  union  between  their  vessels 
at  the  placenta.  One  of  the  twins  became 
a  parasite  on  the  other ;  the  weaker  twin, 
instead  of  maintaining  its  own  circulation, 
came  to  trust  to  the  heart  of  the  larger  or 
"  host  "  foetus  for  a  blood-supply,  with  the 
result  that  its  own  heart  became  passive  and 
life  was  maintained  by  the  blood  supplied  to 
it   from   the   host   or   stronger   foetus.     The 


MONSTERS   AND   MALFORMATION    117 

parasitic  foetus  cannot  survive  birth,  for  the 
moment  the  cord  of  the  normal  twin  is  tied 
its  supply  of  blood  is  cut  off  and  it  dies.  The 
shapeless  masses  of  humanity  show  us  the 
form  and  organization  our  bodies  would  assume 
were  we  to  become  purely  parasitic  or  passive 
in  our  manner  of  life. 

The  monsters  included  in  the  next  series 
are  manifestly  the  result  of  imperfect  separa- 
tion of  identical  twins.  In  some  the  body 
is  single  down  to  the  navel,  but  is  double 
from  that  point  downwards  ;  in  other  cases 
it  is  the  upper  part  which  is  double — two 
heads  and  four  arms — while  the  lower  parts 
are  those  of  a  normal  individual.  In  others 
the  separation  is  almost  complete,  the  bodies 
being  united  at  one  point  only.  In  some 
monsters,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Siamese 
twins,  only  the  parts  between  the  breast- 
bone and  the  navel  are  united.  The  united 
twins  may  grow  up  and  one  may  die  while 
the  other  lives.  In  such  cases  the  surgeon  has 
attempted  to  preserve  the  surviving  individual 
by  severing  the  bond  between  them,  but  in 
most  instances  wdth  very  little  success.  In  his 
well-known  work  on  the  Pathology  of  the 
Foetus  Dr.  J.  W.  Ballantyne  gives  an  account 
of  a  remarkable  case  which  occurred  in  Scot- 
land in  the  reign  of  James  IV.  Two  boys 
were  born  so  united  that  they  were  as  one 
individual  from  the  waist  downwards,  but 
in  their  upper  parts  formed  two  individuals 


118  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

joined  or  fastened  to  each  other  back  to  back. 
These  "  Scottish  Brothers "  were  excellent 
musicians  and  linguists  and  lived  to  the  age 
of  twenty-eight,  when  one  of  them  died.  "  For 
which  many  required  of  the  other  to  be 
merry.  He  answered — '  How  can  I  be  merry, 
that  have  my  true  marrow  as  dead  as  a 
carrion  on  my  back,  which  was  wont  to  sing 
and  play  with  me  ?  Therefore  I  pray  Almighty 
God  to  deliver  me  out  of  this  present  life '  " 
— a  prayer  we  may  be  sure  that  was  soon 
granted.  In  a  historical  case  which  dates  back 
to  the  twelfth  century  a  pair  of  twin  sisters, 
known  as  the  "  Biddenden  Maids,"  were 
born  in  Kent,  and  were  found  to  be  joined  from 
the  waist  downwards  but  fastened  together 
side  by  side.  Among  the  specimens  before 
us  there  are  monsters  similar  in  form  to  the 
"  Scottish  Brothers  "  and  "  Biddenden  Maids," 
and  many  others  which  illustrate  various 
modes  of  union.  Such  united  twins  are  usually 
placed  side  by  side  or  face  to  face.  The  union 
however  may  be  head  to  head  or  the  opposite 
ends  of  the  body  may  be  joined.  All  degrees 
of  union,  from  a  slight  bond  to  an  almost 
complete  fusion  of  the  two  individuals,  may  be 
seen.  There  is  one  peculiar  form  in  which 
the  heads  are  fused  face  to  face.  In  such  cases 
there  appear  to  be  two  faces,  but  when  they 
are  minutely  examined  it  is  seen  that  these 
faces  are  compound,  the  right  half  belonging 
to  one  head,  while  the  left  half  belongs  to 


MONSTERS  AND   IMALFORiMATION    119 

another.  Yet  so  similar  are  the  halves  and 
so  accurately  are  they  joined  that  they  appear 
to  form  the  symmetrical  face  of  one  individual, 
while  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  the  united 
halves  of  two  individuals. 

In  the  united  or  monstrous  twins  just 
described  each  individual  is  of  equal  size 
and  no  mistake  can  be  made  about  their 
condition,  but  we  now  reach  a  series  which  is 
very  puzzling  in  composition,  and  not  easily 
interpreted,  because  one  of  the  individuals  is 
dwarfed  so  that  it  forms  a  mere  appendage 
upon  a  fully  grown  individual.  The  human 
freaks  which  accompany  the  travelling  show- 
man are  usually  of  this  variety.  The  model 
of  a  famous  Chinaman  is  shown  in  the  collec- 
tion we  are  at  present  surveying.  Attached 
to  the  front  of  his  body  immediately  below 
the  breast-bone  is  a  curious  structure  in  which 
may  be  recognized  a  trunk,  two  lower  extremi- 
ties and  two  dangling  processes  which  appar- 
ently represent  arms,  but  where  the  head 
should  be  there  is  only  an  indistinct  scar.  If 
we  suppose  one  of  the  Siamese  twins  to  have 
been  arrested  in  growth  at  an  early  stage  of 
foetal  life  and  become  dependent  on  the  other 
for  its  blood  supply  it  would  have  assumed 
the  form  of  such  an  appendage  as  we  see  on 
the  Chinaman.  A  year  or  two  ago  the  writer 
saw  a  native  of  India  with  a  similar  malforma- 
tion. The  limbs  of  the  parasitic  twin  were 
destitute  of  movement  and  of  sensation. 


120  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

Another  of  the  commoner  forms  of  monster 
is  that  in  which  the  posterior  end  of  the 
embryo  has  been  divided,  each  division  of  the 
hinder  end  of  the  body  being  provided  with 
a  pair  of  lower  extremities.  In  many  of  these 
cases  only  one  of  the  two  divisions  continues 
to  grow,  the  other  being  arrested,  so  that  in 
the  adult  one  may  see  an  extra  pair  of  lower 
extremities  of  small  size  attached  to  the  seat 
of  the  normal  body  or  only  one  of  these  extra 
limbs  may  grow.  In  such  a  case  the  individual 
may  appear  to  have  three  legs.  In  those  cases 
of  division  of  the  hind  end  of  the  body  the 
sexual  parts  and  anus  may  be  double. 

In  the  case  of  the  Chinaman  just  described, 
the  head  of  the  atrophic  twin  had  not  been 
developed,  but  in  the  specimen  which  repre- 
sents the  head  of  the  "  Bengalee  child  "  we 
see  an  opposite  condition  produced ;  a  head 
has  developed,  with  no  body  attached  to  it. 
In  this  celebrated  case  the  child  lived  for 
several  years ;  the  additional  head  was 
upturned  with  its  crown  imbedded  in  that  of 
the  living  child.  The  eyes  of  the  additional 
head  could  move.  An  adjoining  specimen 
shows  the  true  nature  of  the  additional  head 
of  the  Bengalee  child.  This  specimen  shows 
two  twins  normally  formed  except  that  the 
heads  are  joined  together  crown  to  crown. 
One  can  understand  that  if  the  circulation 
were  to  be  cut  off  from  one  of  the  foetuses, 
its  head  might  still  be  supplied  from  the  vessels 


MONSTERS  AND  MALFORMATION    121 

of  the  head  of  the  survivor  and  thus  continue  to 
grow  while  the  rest  of  the  body  atrophied  and 
disappeared.  We  see  from  these  experiments 
which  nature  has  made,  and  we  know  now 
that  they  are  made  by  the  normal  condition 
of  development  being  altered,  that  the  human 
body  during  its  embryonic  and  foetal  stages 
is  very  plastic  and  capable  of  taking  on  many 
forms.  Monster  chicks  can  be  produced  by 
hatching  eggs  at  too  high  a  temperature. 
If  the  ova  of  the  sea  urchin  or  of  the  salmon 
are  hatched  in  water  containing  certain 
salts  in  solution,  many  monstrous  forms  are 
produced.  Medical  men  have  been  unable  to 
find  evidence  to  support  the  widely  spread 
popular  tradition  that  such  monsters  may  be 
the  result  of  mental  shocks  or  impressions 
received  by  the  mother  during  pregnancy.  We 
do  not  see  how  such  impressions  could  be 
conveyed  to  a  foetus  in  which  all  the  parts  are 
already  formed.  On  the  other  hand  we  can 
see  that  fever  or  altered  conditions  of  the 
mother's  blood  or  uterus  might  disturb  the 
normal  condition  of  development,  and  thus 
produce  monsters.  Malformations  are  very 
apt  to  occur  in  certain  families,  especially  those 
which  are  regarded  as  neurotic. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  consider  two 
specimens  which  made  a  sensation  when  first 
reported,  nearly  a  century  ago.  They  are 
very  similar,  so  that  only  one  of  them  need  be 
described.     We  select  the  specimen  w^hich  is 


122  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

part  of  a  lad  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
from  a  tumour  which  was  situated  within  the 
upper  part  of  the  abdomen.  Lying  within  a 
cavity  in  the  tumour  was  found  the  body  of  a 
child  very  similar  in  shape  and  size  to  the 
one  which  we  saw  attached  to  the  epigastric 
region  of  the  Chinaman.  There  was  a  back- 
bone, abdomen,  arms  and  legs,  but  no  head. 
Here  we  are  apparently  dealing  with  a  twin, 
but  one  which  at  an  early  stage  of  develop- 
ment became  included  within  the  abdomen  of 
the  larger  or  host  twin.  The  "  included " 
twin  was  hampered  in  its  growth  by  its  peculiar 
position,  and  as  we  have  seen,  brought  about 
the  death  of  his  twin  brother. 

Another  series  of  specimens  appears  to 
illustrate  a  condition  which  is  allied  to  the  one 
just  described  but  in  reality  is  very  different. 
They  are  hollow  tumours  or  cysts  which  have 
been  excised  by  the  surgeon  and  may  occur  in 
almost  any  part  of  the  body,  but  are  found 
most  frequently  in  the  reproductive  glands. 
The  interior  of  the  cavity  seems  to  be  lined 
with  skin,  hence  they  are  named  "  dermoid  " 
tumours  or  cysts.  They  often  contain  tufts 
or  even  masses  of  hair,  and  it  is  quite  common 
to  find  bony  plates  on  their  interior  to  which 
teeth  of  various  shapes  are  fixed.  It  is  not 
easy  to  explain  the  occurrence  of  such  peculiar 
cysts,  but  it  is  possible  that  they  arise  from  a 
genital  cell — one  which  under  normal  circum- 
stances would  give  rise  to  ova  or  spermatozoa. 


MONSTERS  AND  IMALFORMATION    123 

It  is  now  known  that  the  ova  of  invertebrate 
animals — such  as  that  of  the  sea-urchin — • 
may  be  stimulated  to  divide  and  even  form 
an  embryo  by  the  application  of  a  particular 
chemical  solution.  It  is  just  possible  that 
dermoid  cysts  may  arise  from  genital  cells 
which  have  been  situated  in  abnormal  sur- 
roundings and  subject  to  irregular  stimuli. 

It  has  been  shown  by  various  embryologists 
that  the  cells  set  aside  for  reproduction  of 
another  generation  are  separated  from  the 
cells  which  form  the  embryo  at  an  early  stage 
of  development,  and  that  some  of  them  may 
never  reach  the  testicle  or  ovary,  but  become 
stranded  in  the  body  tissues.  From  such  stray 
cells  it  is  supposed  that  dermoids  may  arise, 
but  such  an  origin  is  not  yet  proven. 

On  other  shelves  of  the  teratological  gallery 
are  shown  numerous  specimens  to  illustrate 
the  developmental  abnormalities  of  hare-lip, 
of  cleft  palate,  and  of  other  malformations 
which  have  already  been  alluded  to.  Nor 
need  those  ugly  births  detain  us,  in  which  the 
top  of  the  head  is  absent,  giving  the  child  a 
frog-like  appearance  ;  nor  those  in  which  the 
spinal  cord  is  exposed  as  a  flat  plate  along  the 
back.  But  there  are  two  very  curious  condi- 
tions which  may  have  some  interest  for  the 
reader.  One  of  the  conditions  is  that  of 
Cyclops.  The  two  eyes  are  fused  together, 
forming  a  single  eye  under  the  middle  of  the 
forehead.     The  condition  is  one  which  never 


124  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

could  have  existed  at  any  stage  of  human 
evolution.  To  understand  its  origin  one  must 
first  look  at  another  series  of  specimens  in 
which  the  two  lower  extremities  are  fused 
together  and  stretched  out  so  as  to  form  a 
continuation  of  the  axis  of  the  trunk.  One 
can  see  very  well  how  the  hind  limbs  became 
fused  together  in  embryonic  life.  They  appear 
first  as  small  flattened  buds  on  the  side  of  the 
posterior  part  of  the  embryonic  body.  Now 
if  the  posterior  end  is  arrested  in  development 
the  two  limb  buds  appear  side  by  side  in  their 
normal  position,  but  being  unseparated  by 
the  hinder  end  of  the  body  they  fuse  together 
across  its  hinder  end.  Arrest  of  growth  may 
occur  at  the  anterior  end  of  the  embryonic 
body — ^the  most  anterior  part  being  that  which 
separates  the  eyes  and  forms  the  middle  part 
of  the  nose.  Hence  if  an  arrest  of  growth 
of  the  middle  or  nasal  part  of  the  face  occurs 
the  eye  buds  are  unseparated  and  they  fuse 
together  in  the  earlier  stages  of  facial  develop- 
ment. The  anterior  ends  of  the  hemispheres 
of  the  brain  are  also  joined  to  some  degree. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  posterior  and  anterior 
ends  of  the  embryo  may  be  arrested  in  their 
development,  with  the  result  that  the  hind 
limbs  fuse  in  the  one  case,  the  eyes  in  the  other. 
The  one  condition  is  known  as  sympodia,  the 
other  as  cyclops. 

In  cases  of  a  human  cyclops  there  is  often 
present  a  small  appendage  shaped  like  the 


MONSTERS  AND  MALFORIVIATION    125 

proboscis  of  an  elephant.  The  appendage  is 
situated  above  the  median  eye  and  represents 
the  rudiments  of  the  parts  which  are  normally 
incorporated  in  the  development  of  the  nose. 
We  cannot  suppose  that  any  human  ancestor 
was  normally  provided  with  a  free  proboscis 
and  median  eye. 

The  second  abnormality  to  which  we  would 
draw  the  reader's  attention  relates  to  the  lower 
jaw  or  mandible.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
a  face  sadly  deformed  by  an  arrest  of  growth 
of  the  lower  jaw.  Instead  of  projecting  prom- 
inently, the  chin  and  lower  lip  are  drawn 
downwards  and  backwards  so  that  the  face 
appears  to  merge  into  the  neck  without  any 
sharp  boundary  between  them.  The  museum 
specimens  illustrate  very  pronounced  examples 
of  this  deformity.  The  arrest  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mandible  and  of  the  tissues  formed 
with  it  from  the  first  visceral  arch  of  the  neck, 
is  almost  complete.  The  ear  holes,  evolved 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  first  visceral  (gill) 
clefts  are  drawn  downwards  so  that  they  almost 
meet  in  front  of  the  neck.  It  is  possible  that 
this  condition  may  be  a  reversion,  for  the  lower 
jaw  is  very  poorly  developed  in  several  of 
the  most  primitive  types  of  fishes.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  this  condition — known 
as  agnathia — may  occur  in  all  the  domestic 
breeds  of  animals  and  is  especially  frequent 
in  South  Down  sheep. 

We  will  bring  this  brief  survey  of  monsters 


126  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

and  malformations  to  a  conclusion  by  noting 
a  few  of  those  congenital  deformities  which 
affect  the  limbs.  The  fusion  of  the  hind 
limbs  (sympodia)  and  congenital  club  foot 
have  been  already  mentioned  and  need  not  be 
further  described.  It  has  also  been  mentioned 
that  the  limbs  appear  as  small  flat  outgrowths 
from  the  side  of  the  trunk  at  the  end  of  the 
third  week  of  development,  when  the  embryo 
is  only  about  a  tenth  of  an  inch  in  length. 
It  is  a  week  later  before  the  three  limb  segments 
are  differentiated — those  of  the  upper  arm 
and  thigh,  of  the  forearm  and  leg,  and  of  the 
hand  and  foot.  The  buds  of  the  upper  and 
lower  extremities  are  at  first  very  similar  in 
appearance.  The  fingers  and  toes,  when  they 
first  appear,  are  imbedded  in  the  flattened 
or  webbed  extremities.  Often  some  degree 
of  webbing  persists,  and  with  this  condition 
some  of  the  joints  in  the  fingers  or  toes  may 
fail  to  form.  Such  abnormalities  are  apt  to 
be  hereditary,  and  to  run  in  families.  The 
limb  buds  may  be  arrested  in  growth  at  an 
embryonic  stage,  and  when  the  individual  is 
quite  adult  all  that  may  be  seen  of  them  are 
minute  tags  of  skin.  It  is  fortunate  for  us 
that  such  severe  errors  or  diseases  of  develop- 
ment are  of  rare  occurrence.  One  of  the  com- 
monest departures  from  the  normal  is  the 
presence  of  an  extra  digit.  Supernumerary 
digits  may  be  situated  at  the  little  finger  or 
thumb  side  of  the  hand.     It  is  possible  that 


MONSTERS  AND  MALFORIMATION    127 

the  occurrence  of  a  sixth  digit  may  be  due 
to  the  reappearance  of  an  ancestral  condition, 
but  if  so  it  must  represent  a  very  early  stage 
in  the  evolution  of  the  hand  and  foot,  for  in 
all  the  higher  vertebrates  the  number  of  digits 
does  not  exceed  five.  Man  appears  to  retain 
normally  the  original  complement.  It  is 
very  possible  that  the  extra  digit  is  due  to  a 
division  or  dichotomy  of  the  bud  for  the  little 
finger  or  thumb.  We  have  seen  that  one  end 
of  the  embryo  may  divide  so  as  to  form  a 
double  individual,  and  it  is  also  probable  that 
this  may  happen  in  the  bud  which  gives  rise 
to  a  finger  or  toe. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  we  may  glance 
at  a  form  of  abnormality  w4iich  illustrates 
the  fact  that  when  reversions  occur  in  man 
they  usually  relate  to  a  very  remote  stage  of 
evolution.  The  abnormality  to  which  we  wish 
to  draw  the  reader's  attention  is  a  bony 
process — the  supracondyloid  process — which 
is  attached  to  the  inner  side  of  the  humerus  a 
few  inches  above  the  elbow  joint.  It  occurs 
in  one  body  out  of  every  fifty  examined. 
The  preparations  show  that  the  main  artery 
and  nerve  of  the  upper  arm  pass  under  this 
hook-like  process.  The  supracondyloid  pro- 
cess appeared  in  the  humerus  of  the  ancestors 
of  modern  mammals  ;  it  is  seen  in  many 
reptiles  ;  the  lemurs  have  it,  so  have  the 
carnivora  and  many  other  forms ;  but  it 
is  absent  in  all  the  higher  primates  except 


128  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

as  an  abnormality.  Its  use  we  do  not  know, 
but  it  is  remarkable  that  this  trace  of  a  pre- 
mammalian  stage  should  so  often  appear  in 
man.  Sir  John  Struthers  showed  that  it 
passed  from  father  to  son,  and  one  can  con- 
ceive that  it  may  have  persisted  in  some 
individuals  at  every  stage  of  man's  evolution. 
Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the 
anomalous  position  of  man's  great  toe,  and  of 
the  fact  that  no  case  of  complete  reversion 
to  the  anthropoid  condition  has  been  observed 
either  in  monstrous  or  normal  human  births. 
The  evidence  that  the  human  great  toe  was  at 
one  time  thumb-like  and  separated  from  the 
other  toes  is,  however,  convincing,  and  we 
have  to  see  how  the  human  condition  could 
have  been  evolved.  It  has  just  been  men- 
tioned that  when  the  hand  and  foot  are  first 
formed  all  the  digits  are  united  together 
or  webbed,  as  is  the  case  in  all  mammals. 
The  separation  of  the  thumb  and  great  toe  is 
a  secondary  process.  The  great  toe  of  man 
appears  to  have  been  evolved  by  a  retention  of 
the  condition  seen  in  the  embryonic  limb. 
In  other  words,  we  may  regard  the  great  toe 
of  man,  as  far  as  its  relationship  to  other 
digits  is  concerned,  as  having  reverted  to  the 
primitive  mammalian  position. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CHANGES  IN  THE  BODY  DURING  YOUTH 
AND  AGE 

In  the  last  two  chapters  we  have  been  con- 
sidering the  changes  which  occur  in  that  phase 
of  our  Uves  which  culminates  at  birth.  Before 
surveying  those  transformations  which  link 
infancy  to  old  age  it  is  necessary  to  emphasize 
one  or  two  points  relating  to  intra-uterine  life. 
There  are  really  two  stages  in  that  life  ;  by 
the  end  of  the  third  month  all  the  parts  of  the 
body  are  formed,  the  active  process  of  develop- 
ment is  over.  During  the  last  six  months  of 
intra-uterine  life  the  changes  are  those  of 
growth  and  of  maturation.  The  years  which 
follow  birth  form  a  continuation  of  the  latter 
stage  of  f ostal  life ;  no  new  structure  or 
organ  is  laid  down,  bone  and  tooth  formation 
proceed  as  before,  and  the  tissue  cells  continue 
to  divide  and  grow.  By  the  act  of  birth 
the  economy  of  the  human  body  is  suddenly 
changed.  Up  till  then  the  placenta  supplied 
the  child  with  oxygen  and  nourishment  from 
the  mother's  blood ;  birth  calls  the  lungs 
suddenly  into  action,  and  the  blood  passages 
I  129 


180  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

and  heart  undergo  a  rapid  transformation  to 
suit  the  new  respiration.  The  stomach  and 
bowels  have  to  supply  nourishment  from 
food.  The  remarkable  transformation  of  the 
lungs,  heart  and  stomach  in  the  newly  born 
child  are  not  peculiar  to  man ;  they  are  the 
common  heritage  of  the  higher  mammals. 

From  birth  onwards  the  body  continues 
to  change ;  there  is  no  stationary  period ; 
every  year  leaves  its  mark.  Shakespeare 
distinguished  seven  ages — "  The  infant  mew- 
ling and  puking  in  the  nurse's  arms  " — "  the 
•whining  school  boy  " — "  the  lover  sighing 
like  a  furnace " — "  the  soldier  .  .  . 
bearded  like  the  pard  " — "  the  justice  in  fair 
round  belly  .  .  .  with  eyes  severe " — 
"  the  lean  and  slippered  pantaloon  " — "  second 
childishness  .  .  .  sans  teeth,  sans  eyes, 
sans  taste,  sans  everything."  His  description 
of  the  age  changes  of  the  body  is  perhaps  the 
most  graphic  and  complete  ever  penned. 
Unconsciously  every  one  of  us  is  a  student 
of  these  bodily  changes  ;  so  familiar  do  we 
become  with  them  that  with  a  glance  of  the 
eye  we  estimate  instinctively  the  age  of  a 
passer-by.  Our  judgment  is  influenced  by 
many  characters,  most  of  all  by  those  of  the 
face.  Before  we  are  aware  of  it  we  have 
noted  the  skin  of  the  face,  observed  its  lines 
and  wrinkles,  formed  an  impression  of  its 
texture — in  short  of  its  probable  age.  Of  all 
the  tissues  of  the  body  the  skin  and  muscles 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE   131 

of  expression  which  lie  under  the  skin  are  the 
most  accurate  registers  of  years.  Not  one 
passes  and  leaves  the  skin  just  as  it  was  ; 
every  year  the  tender,  soft,  suffused,  velvety 
covering  of  babyhood  moves  one  degree 
towards  the  dry,  grey,  wrinkled  and  loose 
integument  of  the  very  aged.  We  never 
mistake  the  "  baby-fat "  which  gives  the 
plump  rounded  outlines  of  youth  for  the 
obesity  which  may  come  with  middle  age. 
It  is  true  that  we  do  not  all  grow  up  or  grow 
old  at  the  same  rate  ;  youth  persists  in  some 
and  is  delayed  in  others,  so  that  in  this  case  or 
that  our  judgment  may  be  a  little  astray. 

The  carriage  of  the  body  counts  for  much  ; 
the  suppleness  of  joint,  firmness  of  hand, 
and  agility  of  limb  are  marks  of  youth.  The 
old  gentleman,  although  he  walks  erect,  cannot 
mislead  us  any  more  than  the  old  lady  who 
seeks  a  means  of  restoring  colour  and  smooth- 
ness to  the  skin  of  her  face.  Our  attention  is 
immediately  arrested  by  an  incongruity  in 
age  of  features  ;  a  man  may  have  grey  hair 
but  his  skin,  his  eyes,  his  lips  and  mouth  tell 
us  he  is  still  young.  Age  wipes  gradually  the 
sharp  outline  from  the  lips  and  mouth ;  the 
eyes  become  a  little  duller  and  the  eyelids 
lose  something  of  their  cleanly  cut  youthful 
shape.  The  form  of  the  chest  and  trunk 
changes ;  the  body  never  ceases  maturing  in 
manhood  nor  decaying  as  age  is  advanced. 
We  have  all  studied  the  age  changes  of  the 


132  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

body  in  the  practical  school  of  daily  life. 
The  medical  man  is  well  aware  that  tissues 
cannot  live  and  not  change,  and  that  the 
appearances  of  age  we  have  noted  in  the  face 
are  but  symptoms  of  the  decay  that  is  attack- 
ing all  the  tissues  of  the  body.  The  elastic 
tissue  of  the  skin  gradually  loses  its  elasticity  ; 
although  alive — at  least  we  believe  it  is — it 
is  less  alive  than  any  other  tissue  of  the  body 
and  is  less  endowed  with  the  powers  of  repair. 
It  is  the  first  to  suffer  decay.  The  elastic 
and  muscular  coats  of  our  arteries  are  at  their 
best  about  twenty-five  ;  that  is  the  age  when 
the  hurdler,  the  footballer — all  who  have  to 
make  sudden  physical  spurts — are  in  their 
prime.  The  brain  attains  its  most  accurate 
control  of  muscles  between  thirty  and  forty, 
while  as  an  organ  of  thought  the  brain  itself 
is  at  its  best  between  forty  and  fifty.  We  see 
then  that  the  systems  of  the  body  mature 
and  age  at  different  rates,  but  the  collective 
changes  in  the  body  occur  so  uniformly  that 
when  an  individual  is  brought  before  us  we 
are  seldom  at  a  loss  in  estimating  the  years 
that  have  passed  since  birth. 

Shakespeare's  seven  ages  run  their  course 
for  most  people  in  the  Psalmist's  limit  of 
threescore  years  and  ten.  How  and  when 
did  man  come  by  his  span  of  years  ?  We 
have  to  seek  for  evidence  in  the  light  of  the 
evolutionary  theory.  How  does  the  span  of 
life  run  in  those  animals  which  are  allied  to 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE  133 

man — the  anthropoids  and  monkeys  ?  Let 
us  first  look  at  the  period  of  infancy — ^for  that 
is  proportioned  to  the  longevity  of  the  adult. 
Now  the  period  of  infancy  may  be  defined  as 
that  in  which  the  milk  teeth  are  erupting. 
In  man,  all  of  the  milk  teeth — twenty  in 
number — are  in  place  by  the  end  of  the  second 
year,  but  the  period  in  many  children  extends 
six  months  longer.  The  period  of  human 
infancy  then  may  be  fixed  at  two  years.  In 
monkeys  and  in  the  small  anthropoids,  the 
gibbons,  the  milk  dentition  is  completed 
before  the  end  of  the  first  year.  In  some, 
such  as  the  semnopitheques,  the  incisor  teeth 
are  cut  at  birth  and  the  dentition  is  completed 
in  eight  months.  The  gibbons  are  the  most 
important  for  our  present  purpose,  because 
we  suppose  them  to  represent  a  phase  in  the 
evolution  of  the  great  anthropoids  and  of 
man.  The  period  of  infancy  in  the  gibbon 
is  then  under  one  year.  In  the  great  anthro- 
poids the  milk  teeth  begin  to  appear  some 
three  or  four  months  after  birth  and  this 
dentition  is  not  complete  until  some  time  in 
the  second  year.  The  period  of  infancy  in  the 
great  anthropoids,  therefore,  is  probably  under 
two  years,  but  in  its  extent  is  comparable  to 
that  of  man.  There  is  evidence  to  show  that 
the  intra-uterine  period  of  the  gibbon  is  seven 
months  and  that  in  the  great  anthropoids,  as 
in  man,  it  is  nine.  We  may  be  fairly  certain, 
therefore,  that  the  lengthening  of  the  periods 


134,  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

of  foetal  and  of  infantile  life  took  place 
during  the  evolution  of  the  great  anthropoid 
from  the  small — a.  period  which  we  have 
already  shown  to  be  at  least  millions  of 
years  ago. 

We  come  now  to  the  period  of  adolescence, 
which  we  may  regard  as  defined  by  the  erup- 
tion of  the  permanent  teeth.  In  man  this 
period  may  be  reckoned  as  extending  from 
the  fifth  to  the  twenty-second  year,  but  we 
have  already  seen  that  eruption  of  the  third 
molars  or  wisdom  teeth  may  be  long  delayed 
in  civilized  peoples  and  may  appear  at  an 
earlier  date  in  primitive  races.  In  monkeys 
the  adolescent  period  extends  from  the  end  of 
the  second  to  the  end  of  the  fifth  year ;  in 
gibbons,  so  far  as  the  evidence  available  gives 
us  warrant  to  make  a  definite  statement — 
from  the  end  of  the  second  to  the  sixth  year. 
In  the  great  anthropoids  the  permanent  teeth 
commence  to  erupt  in  the  fourth  year  and  are 
all  in  place  before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
year.  In  the  anthropoids  then,  the  period  of 
adolescence  extends  to  about  the  fourteenth 
year,  whereas  in  man  it  is  prolonged  to  the 
twenty-second.  As  to  the  natural  span  of 
life  of  monkeys  and  of  anthropoids  we  know 
nothing,  except  from  animals  kept  in  cap- 
tivity, but  assuming  the  periods  of  infancy 
and  adolescence  to  form  one-third  of  the  total 
life,  we  may  suppose  a  gibbon  at  eighteen, 
an  anthropoid  at  forty-two,  and  a  man  at 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE  135 

sixty-six  to  be  aged  individuals.  So  far  as  the 
evidence  goes  then  it  appears  that  long  life 
in  the  higher  primates  came  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  large  body,  but  that  man — at  least 
civilized  man — appears  to  have  extended  his 
span  of  life.  Reliable  observers  assert  that 
the  more  uncivilized  races,  such  as  the  natives 
of  Australia,  show  at  forty-two  the  age  change 
of  a  European  at  sixty-two.  The  facts  at 
our  disposal  indicate  that  longevity  is  an  old 
inheritance  of  the  human  stock  and  that 
modern  man  is  longer  lived  than  his  fore- 
runners. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  changes  of 
infancy  is  the  rapid  growth  of  the  head. 
Everyone  has  noted  the  large  head  of  early 
childhood,  especially  when  compared  with 
the  slender  neck  which  unites  it  to  the  trunk. 
The  rate  of  growth  in  the  head  during  the 
period  of  infancy  is  altogether  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  increase  in  the  rest  of  the  body. 
The  facial  part  of  the  head  does  not  share  in 
this  rapid  increase ;  it  is  the  cranial  part — 
the  part  containing  the  brain,  which  under- 
goes a  rapid  expansion.  The  explanation  lies 
in  the  mushroom-like  gro^vth  of  the  infant's 
brain.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  organ  which  is  to  guide  the  child  through 
the  intricacies  of  human  life  should  be  formed 
at  the  earliest  possible  date.  By  the  end  of 
the  second  year  the  child's  brain  has  attained 
more  than  half  of  its  adult  size ;  by  the  end  of 


136  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  fourth  year  over  80  per  cent,  of  its  nerve 
tissue  is  already  present.  Indeed  we  may 
say  that  when  a  child  of  five  goes  to  school 
all  its  nerve  cells  are  formed  and  in  place ; 
the  increase  which  follows  relates  to  a  growth 
in  the  size  of  the  child's  body,  for  we  know 
that  growth  in  the  size  of  the  body  is  accom- 
panied by  an  increase  of  brain  tissue — an 
increase  which  is  not  connected  with  the 
higher  faculties.  It  is  extremely  important 
to  recognize  such  an  element  in  the  human 
brain  and  it  may  be  called  for  convenience 
the  "  corporeal  concomitant."  The  rapid 
increase  of  the  cranial  capacity  is  a  character 
of  the  human  infant.  The  brain  of  the  newly 
born  gorilla,  which  is  only  slightly  smaller 
than  that  of  a  child  at  birth,  is  already  65 
per  cent,  of  its  adult  size ;  the  remainder  of 
its  growth  is  probably  due  to  the  addition  of 
the  "  corporeal  concomitant."  From  birth 
onwards,  the  anthropoid  brain  continues  to 
increase  at  almost  a  uniform  rate  until  adult 
years  are  reached  ;  there  is  no  spurt  in  growth 
such  as  we  see  in  the  brain  of  the  human 
infant.  The  peculiarity  of  the  human  brain, 
then,  is  its  rapid  growth  in  infancy  and  early 
childhood.  A  child  at  five  has  only  reached 
that  point  in  the  growth  of  the  brain  which 
the  anthropoid  has  attained  at  birth.  Man 
then  is  peculiar  in  that  his  brain  continues 
to  grow  rapidly  after  birth,  and  in  the  great 
expansion  of  the  head  in  infancy  and  childhood 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE   137 

we  see  one  of  the  latest  phases  in  human 
evolution. 

The  age  changes  in  the  face  and  neck  are 
ruled  by  other  conditions.  The  face,  from 
an  anatomist's  point  of  view,  is  really  part  of 
the  apparatus  of  mastication.  It  is  an  acci- 
dent, as  it  were,  that  the  face  has  to  accommo- 
date the  eyes  and  the  nose.  The  facial  part 
of  the  head  is  a  bony  scaffolding  for  the  upper 
and  lower  jaw  on  which  the  teeth  are  set. 
As  the  milk  teeth  come  into  place  during 
infancy,  the  face,  still  retaining  its  cherubic 
roundness  of  outline,  increases  gradually  in 
size  and  strength.  During  adolescence,  as 
the  permanent  teeth  come  into  use  one  after 
another,  the  jaws  themselves  grow  to  accom- 
modate the  erupting  molars  or  chewing  teeth  ; 
the  facial  scaffolding  is  enlarged  to  support 
them,  while  the  muscles  which  move  the  lower 
jaw  undergo  a  rapid  growth.  Every  one 
must  have  observed  that  the  features  of  the 
boy  or  of  the  girl,  are  replaced  by  bolder  and 
rougher  outlines  as  the  last  of  the  teeth  come 
into  position.  The  muscles  of  mastication 
which  arise  on  the  bony  outworks  on  the  side 
of  the  skull  need  stouter  supports.  The 
bony  ridges  of  the  cheek  and  skull  become 
emphasized  and  the  features  rapidly  change. 
The  growth  of  the  neck  does  not  proceed  at 
the  same  pace  as  that  of  the  head.  Most  of  us 
may  recall,  if  our  memories  carry  us  back  to 
the  details  of  boyhood  life,  that  every  second 


138  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

or  third  year  we  took  a  larger  size  in  collars, 
while  we  wore  hats  of  the  same  size  for  a 
number  of  years  on  end.  The  rapid  growth 
of  the  head  took  place  during  infancy  and 
early  childhood.  At  first  sight  it  is  not 
apparent  why  the  neck  should  keep  time  in  its 
growth  with  the  muscles  of  mastication.  It 
is  so,  however,  and  the  reason  becomes 
apparent  when  one  remembers  that  the  skull, 
which  serves  as  a  fulcrum  for  the  muscles  of 
mastication,  must  be  steadied  when  these  are 
in  action.  The  skull  is  balanced  and  fixed 
by  the  muscles  of  the  neck.  It  will  be  observed 
that  it  is  the  men  with  the  wide,  squarely-set, 
massive  jaws  and  cheeks  who  have  their 
heads  deeply  implanted  in  their  necks.  We 
describe  them  as  strong,  bull-necked  men — 
people  of  a  strong  will  and  with  a  healthy 
appetite.  In  anthropoids  we  find  the  jaws 
massive,  the  muscles  of  mastication  so  large 
that  they  envelop  the  skull,  and  with  heads 
hafted  to  exceedingly  thick  and  muscular 
necks.  It  is  as  adult  years  are  reached  that 
we  see  the  most  marked  changes  occur  in  the 
fixation  of  the  head  and  in  the  size  of  jaws. 
The  changes  in  the  head  and  neck  so  far 
described  are  those  of  infancy,  youth  and  early 
manhood  or  womanhood,  they  are  growth 
changes.  Not  a  word  has  been  said  of  the 
changes  which  set  in  with  old  age.  There  is 
no  stationary  interval  between  the  first  and  the 
last.  By  the  time  the  final  form  of  the  head  has 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE   139 

been  determined  by  the  processes  of  growth 
the  changes  of  decay  set  in.  In  some,  these 
are  marked  by  obesity  ;  in  many  they  are 
emphasized  by  an  absorption  of  the  natural 
fat,  which  leaves  the  skin  loose  and  the  skele- 
ton, muscles  and  veins  apparent.  With 
advancing  years  the  muscles  of  mastication 
undergo  a  process  of  atrophy  and  the  fat  round 
them  is  absorbed ;  the  temples  therefore 
become  hollow,  and  the  bony  processes  of  the 
skull  become  surface  markings.  With  the  loss 
of  teeth  the  jaws  atrophy,  the  cheeks  fall  in, 
the  mouth  becomes  shapeless.  With  the 
atrophy  of  the  jaws  and  muscles  of  mastication 
the  neck  becomes  thin  and  its  skin  lies  in 
folds. 

We  are  now  to  examine  a  number  of  changes 
which  occur  in  the  human  body  preparatory 
to  the  assumption  of  the  upright  posture.  In 
the  latter  part  of  infancy  we  see  the  body 
becoming  modified  for  walking.  During  the 
first  year  the  lower  extremities  cannot  support 
the  body,  not  because  they  are  not  strong 
enough,  but  because  the  brain  has  not  yet 
gained  control  of  the  muscles  which  are  needed 
to  balance  the  body  on  the  feet.  Yet  Dr.  Louis 
Robinson  has  shown  that  a  newly  born  child 
has  sufficient  strength  in  its  grasp  to  support 
the  weight  of  the  body  from  the  hands.  The 
newly  born  monkey  clings  to  its  mother  as  she 
takes  plunging  leaps  from  tree  to  tree,  by 
grasping  the  hair  on  the  under  surface  of  her 


140  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

body  with  its  fingers  and  toes.  The  anthro- 
poid, like  the  human  infant,  has  short  legs  and 
cannot  extend  them  into  a  line  with  the  body. 
As  the  infant  attempts  to  stand  and  walk,  the 
legs  are  slightly  bent  at  the  knees  and  flexed 
at  the  hips.  Presently,  as  the  period  of  child- 
hood is  entered  and  the  art  of  walking  is 
acquired,  the  lower  limbs  grow  at  a  faster 
rate  than  the  rest  of  the  body  and  peculiar 
changes  occur  at  the  hip  and  knee  joints,  which 
allow  the  limbs  to  be  completely  extended 
in  line  with  the  body,  and  to  be  used  in  stand- 
ing and  walking.  While  the  chick  can  run  the 
minute  it  escapes  from  the  shell,  the  human 
child  has  to  learn  laboriously  even  the  art  of 
standing.  In  the  newly  born  child  the  lower 
limbs  form  only  two-fifths  of  the  standing 
height ;  in  the  adult  they  form  a  half  or  a  little 
more — according  to  the  individual  and  to  the 
race.  We  shall  obtain  a  better  insight  into 
these  remarkable  adaptations  for  walking  if 
we  take  the  combined  length  of  the  trunk  and 
head  as  a  standard  of  measurement.  In  the 
human  foetus  at  the  sixth  month  of  develop- 
ment the  lower  limbs  are  only  55.  per  cent,  of 
the  head-trunk  length  ;  at  birth  they  are,  in 
the  average  individual,  62  per  cent.,  and  in  the 
adult  102  per  cent,  of  the  head  and  trunk 
measured  in  a  straight  line.  If  we  now  turn 
to  see  how  the  anthropoids  compare  with  man 
we  find  that  their  lower  limbs  have  about  the 
same  relationship  to  the  head-trunk  length 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE   141 

as  in  the  newly  born  child — varying  from  50 
to  70  per  cent. — but  no  special  growth  takes 
place  in  their  lower  extremities  soon  after  birth 
as  is  the  case  in  children.  'The  lower  limbs 
of  the  adult  gibbon  are  78  per  cent,  of  its  head- 
trunk  length,  those  of  the  gorilla  66  per  cent., 
those  of  the  orang  58  per  cent.  Thus  we  see 
that  the  lower  limbs  of  a  child  at  birth  have  the 
same  proportionate  length  as  the  anthropoid. 
The  peculiarity  of  man  is  the  rapid  growth 
which  takes  place  after  birth  and  adapts  the 
limbs  for  standing  and  walking. 

At  the  same  time  as  the  lower  limbs  are 
undergoing  a  special  growth  in  the  child 
another  change  is  taking  place  in  the  loins  or 
waist  of  the  body.  No  one  who  has  closely 
watched  the  crawling  child  trying  to  stand  up, 
can  have  failed  to  notice  that  it  not  only  raises 
itself  at  the  hinge  or  joint  between  the  body 
and  the  thighs,  but  that  the  trunk  is  also  bent 
backwards  at  the  loins.  The  lumbar  part  of 
the  backbone,  which  supports  the  loins  be- 
tween the  pelvis  below  and  the  chest  above, 
is  made  up  of  five  vertebrae  in  man.  This  part 
of  the  spinal  column  supports  and  balances 
the  upper  part  of  the  trunk.  Now  in  all  the 
great  anthropoids  the  lumbar  part  of  the  spinal 
column  is  very  short ;  the  pelvis  is  closely 
knit  to  the  expanded  chest.  The  significance 
of  this  feature  of  the  anthropoid  spinal  column 
is  very  apparent  when  these  animals  are  seen 
swinging   along,    sustaining   their   weight   as 


142  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

much  from  their  hands  as  supporting  it  by 
their  feet  and  legs,  or  even  more.  They  do  not 
habitually  support  and  balance  their  bodies 
on  the  lumbar  part  of  the  spine  as  we  do.  In 
the  newly  born  child  the  lumbar  part  is  27  per 
cent,  of  the  total  length  of  the  spinal  column — • 
the  same  as  in  the  adult  chimpanzee.  As  the 
child  learns  to  walk  the  lumbar  region  rapidly 
elongates,  so  that  in  adult  man  it  forms  32  per 
cent,  of  the  total  length  of  his  vertebral  pillar. 
Here  again  we  see  a  peculiar  feature  of  man's 
body  being  developed  in  early  childhood — 
a  feature  which  adapts  him  to  the  upright 
posture.  The  short  lumbar  segment  is  an 
anthropoid  character ;  it  is  replaced  by  a 
long  segment  which,  as  regards  the  higher 
primates,  is  peculiar  to  man. 

These  remarkable  changes  in  the  loins  and 
lower  limbs  in  early  childhood,  which  have 
been  thus  cursorily  described,  are  growth 
changes  which  fit  the  human  body  for  man's 
peculiar  method  of  locomotion.  We  recog- 
nize how  perfectly  these  adaptations  have  been 
evolved  from  the  easy  and  jaunty  manner  in 
which  young  people  carry  themselves.  When 
forty  years  of  age  or  thereabouts  is  reached, 
however,  the  suppleness  of  the  joints  and  the 
easy  co-ordination  of  the  muscles  begin  to 
show  some  degree  of  impairment.  As  old  age 
approaches  the  muscles  shrink  from  thigh  and 
calf  ;  the  knees  become  bent,  the  hip  joints 
stiff  and  incapable  of  full  extension,  the  back 


CHANGES  DURING  YOUTH  &  AGE   143 

bends  and  shrinks,  while  the  muscles  and 
joints  of  the  spine  fail  to  maintain  the  trunk 
and  head  in  a  position  of  easy  balance.  Old 
age  wrecks  the  mechanism  of  the  upright 
posture  for  every  one  of  us.  Yet  in  youth  it 
seems  such  an  easy  thing  to  stand  or  walk. 

The  chief  structural  changes  which  occur 
after  birth  are  concerned  with  the  growth  of 
the  brain  and  the  adaptation  of  the  human 
body  to  upright  plantigrade  progression. 
These  represent  the  most  recently  acquired 
characters  of  man.  It  is  very  apparent,  too, 
that  a  complete  human  life  is  made  up  of  two 
distinct  periods — one  in  which  growth  is 
predominant  and  one  in  which  decay  is 
predominant ;  where  the  one  period  ends — 
about  the  twenty-fifth  year — the  other  begins. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  SEXUAL  CHAEACTERS  OF  THE  HUMAN 
BODY 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Havelock  Ellis  collected 
all  the  observations  which  have  been  recorded 
regarding  the  differences  between  the  body  and 
mind  of  man  and  woman  and  made  them  into 
a  most  interesting  and  valuable  book.  From 
the  crown  of  her  head  to  the  sole  of  her  foot 
woman's  body  differs  from  man's.  She  buttons 
her  dress  differently,  she  walks,  speaks,  and 
breathes  differently.  We  are  so  accustomed 
to  the  division  of  mankind  into  two  forms  that 
we  never  think  of  the  possibility  of  man  and 
woman  being  formed  alike.  Our  business  in 
this  chapter,  however,  is  not  to  picture  a  world 
populated  with  men  and  women,  alike  in 
mind  and  body,  except  in  the  essential  parts 
relating  to  sex.  Our  purpose  is  to  see  what 
light  we  can  obtain  on  the  origin  of  the  sexual 
differentiation  of  mankind,  and  ascertain  if 
possible  how  and  why  the  two  sexes  have  been 
endowed  with  different  characters. 

Now,  although  the  thousand  and  one  char- 
acters which  have  been  enumerated  by  Mr. 

144 


SEXUAL   CHARACTERS  145 

Havelock  Ellis  distinguish  the  parts  of  the 
female  body  from  the  male,  there  do  occur 
eases  where  the  distinctions  are  but  ill- 
defined.  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that 
occasionally  women  appear  to  assume  the 
form  of  body  and  features  of  face  we  associate 
with  men,  while  just  as  frequently  we  see  men 
who  are  feminine  in  their  stature  and  build. 
In  such  cases,  where  we  have  only  a  part  of 
the  body  to  provide  us  with  the  necessary 
evidence,  it  may  be  difficult  or  even  impossible 
to  determine  the  sex.  This  was  forcibly 
brought  home  to  the  writer  a  few  months  ago 
when  a  complete  skeleton  was  excavated  on 
the  coast  of  Essex  by  Mr.  Hazzeldine  Warren. 
It  was  proved  from  the  objects  found  with  it, 
and  from  the  stratum  in  which  it  lay,  that  the 
individual  whose  skeleton  was  thus  found, 
had  lived  4,000  years  or  more  ago — when  the 
natives  of  England  used  rough  pottery  for 
cooking  and  flint  knives  for  cutting.  When 
Mr.  Warren  brought  the  skeleton  to  nue  I 
lifted  the  skull  from  the  box  and  said  it  was 
that  of  a  woman.  My  judgment  was  founded 
on  several  of  its  characters.  The  first  and  chief 
was  that  the  bony  ridges  which  give  attach- 
ment for  the  muscles  of  mastication  and  for 
those  of  the  neck  were  not  so  strongly  marked 
as  in  the  male  sex,  for  in  a  man  these  muscles 
are  usually  strong  and  their  impressions  very 
distinct.  The  impressions  on  the  base  of  the 
skull  for  the  attachment  of  the  neck  indicated 


146  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  tapering,  slender  neck  of  a  woman,  not  the 
thicker  and  stronger  neck  of  a  man.  The 
bony  ridges  which  cross  the  forehead  were 
not  prominent  as  is  the  rule  in  men.  The  face, 
too,  was  moderately  long,  oval  and  slender 
in  form,  while  the  teeth,  although  well 
developed  and  somewhat  worn,  were  small  in 
size  when  compared  with  those  of  a  typical 
man.  The  skull  was  small  in  size.  On  an 
average  the  cavity  of  the  skull  of  a  man  holds 
140  cubic  centimetres  (five  ounces)  more  than 
that  of  a  woman,  and  is  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
longer  and  one- sixth  of  an  inch  wider.  In 
these  characters  this  skull  corresponded  to 
those  of  a  woman.  I  concluded,  therefore, 
that  the  skeleton  must  be  that  of  a  woman. 
The  reader,  however,  is  already  aware  that 
there  is  here  and  there  a  man  with  a  skull 
which  may  answer  to  all  of  these  tests. 

Mr.  Warren,  however,  had  formed  an  oppo- 
site opinion  as  to  sex,  and  drew  my  attention 
to  the  pelvis.  That  part  of  the  skeleton  as  a 
rule  affords  undisputable  evidence  as  regards 
sex.  In  the  female  it  is  widened  so  as  to 
give  passage  to  the  child  at  birth.  In  the 
specimen  from  Essex  there  were  all  the  out- 
ward appearances  of  the  pelvis  of  a  small  and 
slender  man.  It  was  stout  and  muscular ; 
the  pelvic  cavity  was  neither  capacious  nor 
shallow,  nor  was  its  outlet  wide  and  roomy  as 
in  the  typical  female  pelvis.  Although  a  few 
of  the  minor  characters  of  the  pelvis  were 


SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  147 

suggestive  of  the  female  sex,  yet  I  had  to  agree 
with  Mr.  Warren  that  the  major  ones  were  mas- 
cuhne.  There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  pelvis  and 
the  skull  being  parts  of  the  same  individual 
and  yet  there  was  apparently  an  incongruity 
between  their  sexual  characters.  The  height 
of  the  skeleton  indicated  a  person  of  5  ft.  4  in. 
in  stature,  that  is  only  half  an  inch  more  than 
the  stature  of  an  average  woman  and  three 
and  a  half  inches  less  than  an  average  man. 
The  stature  indicated  again  the  female  sex, 
but  all  of  us  have  seen  women  of  5  ft.  8  in. 
and  men  of  5  ft.  4  in.  The  thigh-bones,  the 
bones  of  the  arm  and  of  the  leg  were  slender, 
but  still  not  so  finely  marked  as  to  exclude  the 
male  sex.  The  bones  of  the  hands  and  feet 
were  small ;  these  were  female  characters. 
When,  however,  we  came  to  examine  the  ribs, 
the  breast-bone  and  the  chest  as  a  whole,  all 
question  as  to  sex  was  settled.  The  breast- 
bone was  of  the  short  wide  form  which  is  onlv 
seen  in  women.  When  the  ribs,  which  were 
rounded  and  rather  slender  in  form,  were 
placed  in  position,  it  was  seen  that  the  thorax 
was  well  formed  in  the  upper  part,  as  is  usual 
in  women,  and  fell  aAvay  in  the  lower  part  so  as 
to  conform  to  a  narrowing  at  the  waist.  When 
the  pelvis  Avas  placed  in  its  proper  position  as 
regards  the  thorax  it  became  evident  that  in 
spite  of  its  masculine  characters  it  was  much 
wider  than  the  thorax.  The  width  of  the 
lower  or  pelvic  part  of  the  body  as  compared 


148  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

with  the  breadth  of  the  thorax  is  a  striking 
feature  of  the  female  body.  In  males  the 
pelvis  is  usually  narrower  than  the  chest.  In 
statues  and  paintings  of  the  nude,  this  char- 
acter of  the  female  body  is  always  to  be  seen. 
A  certain  degree  of  narrowing  at  the  waist  is 
natural  to  a  woman,  for  we  are  dealing  here 
with  one  who  lived  long  before  the  days  of 
corsets.  The  short  breast-bone,  the  well 
developed  upper  part  of  the  chest  are  adap- 
tations to  woman's  natural  method  of  breath- 
ing. She  uses  the  upper  part  of  her  chest 
more  than  the  lower  part  in  breathing,  while 
men  usually  do  the  opposite.  It  is  true  that 
this  statement  has  been  denied  and  that  obser- 
vations made  on  primitive  races  have  been 
published  to  show  that  man  and  woman,  in  a 
condition  of  nature,  breathe  alike.  My  own 
observations  point  to  an  exactly  opposite 
conclusion,  and  in  this  I  am  in  agreement  with 
the  majority  of  students  of  the  human  body. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  woman's 
breathing  is  modified  so  as  to  minimise  the 
pressure  to  which  the  developing  foetus  would 
be  subjected  in  the  later  months  of  child 
bearing  if  the  type  of  breathing  were  abdomi- 
nal or  diaphragmatic  as  in  the  male. 

From  the  survey  which  has  been  given  it 
will  be  realized  that  every  part  of  the  skeleton 
is  modified  in  connexion  with  sex.  Further 
it  will  be  evident  that  there  is  a  variation  in 
the   degree   to   which   these    characters    are 


SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  149 

developed  from  individual  to  individual  and 
from  part  to  part.  For  instance,  in  the  case 
just  related  the  female  characters  of  the  pelvis 
were  not  apparent  until  it  was  contrasted 
with  the  thorax.  It  often  happens,  however, 
when  we  have  to  deal  with  individual  skulls  or 
limb  bones  that  great  difficulty  is  experienced 
in  determining  sex.  Most  anatomists  agree 
that  in  every  hundred  skulls  there  are  five 
at  least,  possibly  ten,  of  which  the  sex  cannot 
be  postulated  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  when  the  skulls 
are  those  of  women  who  have  passed  the 
age  of  child  bearing,  for  after  that  period 
growth  changes  often  set  in. 

The  problem  of  the  origin  of  sexes  does 
not  concern  us  here  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
long  before  the  very  lowest  forms  of  vertebrate 
animals  had  been  evolved,  individuals  were 
already  born  either  male  or  female.  The 
questions  one  would  like  to  answer  are  the 
following :  Have  man  and  woman  always 
been  as  sharply  marked  off  from  each  other 
as  now  ?  Is  the  sexual  difference  really 
decreasing  or  increasing  ?  Is  it  possible  that 
the  day  may  come  when  to  all  outward 
appearances  man  and  woman  may  seem  the 
same  ?  We  turn  to  the  evidence  which  the 
anthropoids  can  afford  us.  The  most  primi- 
tive— the  small  anthropoids  or  gibbons — show 
us  the  sexes  so  alike  that  it  is  hard  to  tell  the 
male  from  the  female.     The  female  is  the 


150  THE  HinVIAN  BODY 

heavier  animal ;  her  canine  teeth  are  as  long 
and  sharp  as  in  the  male  ;  the  muscular  ridges 
in  her  bones  are  equally  well  marked.  Yet 
there  are  minor  differences  between  them, 
but  they  are  not  so  decisive  as  to  allow  us  to 
determine  sex  except  by  examining  the  essen- 
tial organs  of  generation.  Here,  then,  is 
a  primitive  condition  showing  an  apparent 
equality  in  sexual  characters.  In  the  great 
anthropoids  the  sexual  differences  are  very 
marked.  These  are  most  pronounced  in  the 
gorilla,  the  anthropoid  which  stands  nearest 
to  man  if  we  take  all  the  characters  of  the 
body  into  account.  In  mass  of  body,  in 
muscular  development,  strength  of  limb, 
size  of  jaws  and  teeth,  the  male  gorilla 
exceeds  the  female  to  a  greater  degree  than 
man  overshadows  woman.  The  male  is  the 
fighter.  Amongst  chimpanzees  the  difference 
between  the  sexes  is  about  the  same  in  amount 
and  in  kind  as  in  the  human  species.  Amongst 
orangs  the  sex  characters  are  more  marked 
than  among  chimpanzees,  but  less  than  is 
seen  in  gorillas.  The  canine  or  eye  teeth 
mark  the  sexes  of  the  great  anthropoids. 
They  are  especially  large  in  the  male  gorilla 
and  are  most  reduced  and  therefore  most 
nearly  resemble  the  human  canine  in  the 
female  chimpanzee.  Among  human  races 
the  canines  have  fallen  to  the  level  of  the  other 
teeth  in  both  male  and  female,  yet  we  must 
infer  that  at  one  time  they  were  large  in  size 


SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  151 

with  prominent  conical  points,  just  as  in  the 
great  anthropoids,  for  their  buds  are  formed 
deeper  in  the  jaw  than  the  other  teeth. 
The  buds  of  our  canine  teeth  are  formed  in 
the  same  anomalous  position  as  in  the  chim- 
panzee and  gorilla. 

There  is  also  a  sexual  difference  as  regards 
the  brain.  The  male  anthropoid  has  much 
the  heavier  brain.  Amongst  gorillas  the  male 
brain  is  eighteen  per  cent,  larger  than  that 
of  the  female,  amongst  orangs  fourteen  per 
cent.,  and  amongst  chimpanzees  eight  per 
cent.  ;  while  in  human  races  it  is  about  twelve 
per  cent.  When  we  sum  up  the  bearing  of 
these  facts  on  human  history  we  must  infer 
that  the  differences  which  we  see  between  the 
bodies  of  man  and  woman  are  of  old  standing. 
The  great  anthropoids  show  about  the  same 
degree  and  the  same  kind  of  sexual  differentia- 
tion. ]\Ian  and  anthropoid  seem  to  have 
inherited  their  sexual  characters  from  that 
common  stock  of  primates  which  appeared 
many  millions  of  years  ago  in  an  early  stage 
of  the  Miocene  period.  Even  in  the  most 
remote  and  dark  period  of  jungle  existence 
we  see  that  the  body  of  man  is  specialized 
in  one  direction,  and  that  of  woman  in 
another.  It  is  a  standing  law  of  ]Nature  that 
a  difference  in  the  structure  of  the  whole  body 
signifies  a  different  function  in  the  whole 
body.  We  must,  therefore,  conclude  that 
before  the  period  of  civilization  dawned  on 


152  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  world  the  bodies  of  man  and  woman  were 
already  specialized  for  different  sides  of 
human  life.  Legislation  can  give  the  sexes 
equal  opportunities  of  life,  but  it  cannot 
blot  out  the  structural  differences  between 
man  and  woman.  These  have  taken 
geological  epochs  to  produce.  When,  too, 
we  see  that  th-e  degree  of  sexual  differentiation 
is  just  as  marked  in  high  as  in  low  races  of 
mankind  we  must  infer  that  there  is  no 
evidence  to  support  the  idea  that  civilization 
will  in  time  produce  a  structural  equality 
in  the  two  sexes. 

We  can  obtain  further  light  on  the  nature 
of  our  sexual  characters  by  watching  their 
development  in  the  foetus  and  child. 
Although  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 
sex  of  the  individual  is  already  determined 
when  the  human  egg  is  fertilized,  we  cannot 
distinguish  a  raale  embryo  from  a  female 
until  the  second  month  of  development  is 
nearly  finished.  When  the  anatomy  of  a 
human  embryo  of  this  stage  is  examined  it  is 
seen  that  there  are  four  tubes  passing  side 
by  side  within  the  hinder  part  of  the  body 
to  end  in  the  common  cloacal  passage  or  exit. 
The  two  inner  or  middle  tubes  become  the 
oviducts  or  channels  for  the  two  genital 
glands  of  the  female  ;  the  two  outer  or  lateral 
ducts — ^the  sperm  or  Wolffian  ducts — become 
the  passages  for  the  two  male  glands.  Before 
the   end   of   the   second   month  it   beconues 


SEXUAL   CHARACTERS  153 

possible  to  tell  whether  the  two  genital  glands 
are  to  be  those  of  a  male  or  of  a  female.  The 
gland  assumes  either  the  structure  of  an  ovary 
or  of  a  testicle.  As  soon  as  the  characters 
of  the  glands  are  determined  we  see  changes 
taking  place  in  the  genital  passages.  If  the 
sexual  glands  are  those  of  the  female  the 
oviducts  grow  together,  fuse  in  their  lower 
parts  to  form  the  uterus,  while  the  upper  parts 
remain  separate  and  form  the  Fallopian  tubes 
or  egg-ducts.  On  the  other  hand,  the  two  lateral 
or  Wolffian  ducts  are  arrested  in  groA\i:h,  and 
only  vestiges  of  them  persist.  If  the  sexual 
glands  of  the  embryo  are  of  the  male  character 
— testicles — the  lateral  or  sperm  ducts  develop, 
while  the  oviducts  become  reduced  to  vestiges. 
In  the  male  foetus  the  cloaca  becomes  enclosed 
to  form  a  male  organ ;  in  the  female  the  cloaca 
remains  open.  We  believe  that  the  sexual 
glands,  as  soon  as  they  are  differentiated, 
throw  a  secretion  into  the  circulation  which 
acts  on  the  sex  tubes  or  channels ;  the 
secretion  of  the  testis  causes  the  male  parts 
to  grow  and  the  female  parts  to  atrophy  ; 
that  of  the  ovary  stimulates  the  female  parts 
and  restrains  the  male. 

The  human  embryo,  like  all  vertebrate 
embryos,  is  furnished  at  first  with  the  basal 
parts  of  both  sexes.  It  is  usual,  therefore, 
to  suppose  that  we  have  descended  from  a 
hermaphrodite  form — one  in  which  the  organs 
of  both  sexes  were  combined.     This  cannot 


154  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

be  regarded  as  a  good  explanation,  for  although 
in  a  few  rare  cases  an  imperfect  sexual  gland 
has  been  found,  which  showed  some  resem- 
blance to  the  structure  of  a  testicle  in  one 
part  and  to  an  ovary  in  another,  there  is  not 
a  single  case  of  a  true  testicle  and  a  true 
ovary  having  been  found  in  the  same  person. 
A  true  human  hermaphrodite  has  not  been 
seen.  The  explanation  which  best  accounts 
for  the  presence  of  both  male  and  female 
ducts  in  the  embryo  is  the  fact  that  the 
male  has  to  be  the  father  of  daughters  as  well 
as  of  sons  ;  for  that  reason  he  must  have  a 
representation  of  the  parts  necessary  to  the 
one  sex  as  well  as  of  the  other.  Similarly 
the  mother  must  be  capable  of  handing  on 
sexual  characters  to  her  sons  as  well  as  to  her 
daughters.  Hence  both  sexes  are  necessarily 
supplied  with  the  parts  proper  to  each  sex. 
This  statement  is  also  true  of  the  breasts  ; 
rudiments  of  these  are  present  in  both  sexes 
at  birth.  When  the  human  embryo  is  only 
a  month  old  a  ridge  on  the  skin  (the  mammary 
ridge)  is  seen  to  extend  along  each  side  of  its 
body  from  the  armpits  to  the  groins.  Some 
months  later  the  parts  of  these  ridges  which 
lie  on  the  upper  part  of  the  thorax  undergo 
a  development  and  form  the  two  mammae 
or  breasts,  while  the  rest  of  the  ridge  atrophies 
and  disappears.  The  breasts  undergo  a  slight 
development  before,  and  immediately  after 
birth,    and   then   remain   in   abeyance  until 


SEXUAL   CHARACTERS  155 

marked  changes  occur  in  the  sexual  organs  at 
puberty.  At  that  age  they  remain  small 
in  the  male,  but  in  the  female  they  grow 
rapidly,  and  take  on  their  characteristic  size 
and  form. 

One  of  the  most  important  recent  advances 
in  our  knowledge  of  the  sexual  glands  is  the 
discovery  that  they  are  double  in  their 
structure  and  function.  They  are  composed 
not  only  of  germinal  tissue,  which  gives 
origin  to  the  reproductive  elements,  but 
also  of  another  tissue  which  is  glandular 
in  nature  and  supplies  a  substance  to  the 
various  parts  of  the  body  by  means  of  the 
circulating  blood.  On  some  parts  of  the 
body  this  substance  has  a  most  powerful 
influence,  and  stimulates  growth.  The  secre- 
tion which  issues  from  the  ovary  at  puberty 
acts  upon  the  latent  breasts,  and  calls  forth 
their  growth  in  the  female ;  the  secretion 
of  the  sexual  glands  of  the  male  has  no  such 
influence.  There  are  numerous  proofs  of  the 
truth  of  this  statement.  I  need  not  relate 
the  facts  which  medical  men  are  well  aware 
of ;  those  who  are  familiar  with  unsexed 
domestic  animals  will  need  no  further  proof 
of  the  influence  of  the  testicles  in  moulding 
the  form  of  the  body.  At  the  end  of  each 
pregnancy  a  secretion  derived  from  the  genital 
parts  of  the  mother,  which  acts  on  the  breasts, 
leads  them  to  increase  in  size  and  yield  a 
secretion  of  milk.     These  facts  are  extremely 


156  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

important  to  us  because  they  reveal  the 
secret  and  yet  simple  manner  in  which  nature 
works  out  the  physical  characters  of  our  bodies. 
The  breasts  must  be  reckoned  as  parts — 
secondary  parts  or  characters — of  our  sexual 
system.  The  reader  already  knows  that 
milk-giving  glands  appeared  with  the  evolution 
of  mammals.  The  thoracic  position  of  the 
milk  glands  is  also  an  old  feature  of  the  stock 
from  which  mankind  arose,  for  in  all  monkeys 
and  anthropoids  we  find  only  two  mammae, 
which  occupy  the  same  position  as  in  man. 
In  the  ape  embryo,  as  in  the  human,  a  mam- 
mary ridge  is  formed  along  each  side  of  the 
body.  In  many  mammals,  such  as  the  sow 
and  bitch,  mammae  are  formed  on  the  whole 
length  of  the  mammary  ridge — ^from  armpit 
to  groin.  It  occasionally  happens  in  men 
and  women  that  besides  the  usual  pair  of 
breasts,  others  may  be  formed  just  below  or 
just  above  the  normal  breast  glands.  Rudi- 
ments of  supernumerary  mammae  and  nipples 
are  not  rare  ;  vestiges  may  be  seen  in  one  out 
of  every  twenty  men  or  women.  We  may 
infer  from  these  facts  that  the  stock  from 
which  the  ape-like  mammals  descended  was 
one  with  breasts  arranged  along  the  length 
of  the  body  as  in  the  pig.  The  supernumerary 
nipples  and  mammae  which  occasionally  occur 
in  man  are  revivals  of  characters  belonging 
to  a  remote  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the 
mammalian  stock. 


SEXUAL   CHARACTERS  157 

At  birth  the  boy  and  girl  are  much  alike 
in  appearance.  It  is  true  the  boy  has  usually 
a  stouter  and  heavier  body  and  a  larger  head 
than  the  girl,  yet  it  is  only  from  the  deeper 
parts  that  the  sex  can  be  told  with  certainty. 
At  birth  and  even  before  birth,  the  sexual 
glands  are  influencing  the  development  of 
the  body.  Professor  Arthur  Thomson,  of 
Oxford,  noted  that  in  the  foetus  of  five  months 
the  pelvic  bones  of  the  two  sexes  w^ere  slightly 
different  in  shape.  It  is  at  puberty  that  the 
glandular  influence  becomes  most  marked. 
We  have  already  seen  how  rapid  the  increase 
of  stature  is  in  girls  from  the  twelfth  to  the 
fourteenth  year,  and  in  boys  between  fourteen 
and  sixteen.  It  is  at  the  period  of  puberty 
that  the  breasts  of  the  female  develop  ;  at 
the  same  time  the  pelvis  takes  on  its  roomy 
character.  The  breadth  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  body  becomes  a  marked  feature  in 
woman.  The  tops  of  the  thigh-bones  which 
articulate  at  the  sides  of  the  pelvis  are  pushed 
outwards  and  become  relatively  further  apart 
than  in  the  male.  Hence  when  walking, 
women  have  to  make  rather  a  greater  effort 
than  men,  for  with  each  step  the  weight  of 
her  body  has  to  be  transferred  across  her 
wide  pelvis  from  one  thigh  to  the  other. 
At  puberty,  too,  the  type  of  breathing  changes  ; 
respiration  becomes  centred  more  in  the  upper 
than  in  the  lower  part  of  the  chest.  The 
thorax  changes  in  form.     The  use  of  corsets 


158  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

tends  to  emphasize,  even  to  a  degree  of 
distortion,  the  normal  prominence  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  thorax  of  women,  and  at 
the  same  time,  by  constricting  the  waist,  to 
bring  into  prominence  the  lateral  projection 
of  the  pelvic  part  o|.  the  body.  In  all  races 
and  in  both  sexes,  fashion  is  often  the  excuse 
for  exaggerating  the  natural  characters  of 
the  body. 

In  the  boy's  body  it  is  another  set  of 
structures  which  are  affected  at  pubert}^ 
About  the  sixteenth  year  we  notice  the  face 
begins  to  change.  The  hair  roots  of  the 
beard,  which  had  up  to  then  remained  latent, 
are  stimulated,  and  hairs  begin  to  peer  out 
on  lips  and  cheek.  The  whole  muscular 
system  gains  in  size  and  strength ;  the  bones 
of  the  skeleton  become  thicker  and  longer, 
to  meet  the  increased  strain  of  the  muscles. 
The  whole  apparatus  of  mastication  undergoes 
a  change ;  the  maxillae  and  all  the  bones  of 
the  face  increase  in  size  and  strength  ;  the 
muscles  of  mastication  extend  their  origin 
on  the  skull ;  the  bony  ridges,  which  give 
origin  to  these  muscles,  become  more  pro- 
nounced. The  ridges  which  cross  the  forehead 
above  the  orbit  are  slowly  developed,  and 
become  more  massive  and  prominent  than 
in  the  female.  The  nose  assumes  its  adult 
form ;  its  growth  is  often  out  of  harmony 
with  the  rest  of  the  face.  The  slender, 
child-like    neck,    which    persists    in    women. 


SEXUAL   CHARACTERS  159 

begins  to  become  stouter  and  thicker  in 
young  men.  In  some  this  increase  in  the 
growth  and  strength  of  the  neck  ceases  soon 
after  puberty.  Such  men  retain  to  some 
degree  the  tapering  neck  and  prominent 
occiput  of  the  boy.  In  other  men  the  thick- 
ness of  the  neck  may  continue  to  increase 
until  the  thirtieth  year,  so  that  the  back  of 
the  head  appears  as  if  it  had  been  pressed  into 
their  stout  necks  ;  the  occiput,  which  projected 
in  boyhood,  disappears  with  the  age  changes 
of  the  neck.  The  heart  and  the  lungs  have 
to  respond,  in  order  to  meet  the  increased 
needs  of  the  muscular  and  bony  systems. 
The  chest  expands,  especially  its  lower  part ; 
and  bit  by  bit  we  see  the  loose- jointed  frame 
of  the  boy  become  the  closely  knit  and  filled- 
out  body  of  the  mature  man.  All  these  changes, 
we  believe,  are  stimulated,  and  to  some  degree 
regulated,  by  a  secretory  mechanism  seated  in 
the  sexual  glands  of  the  male. 

One  of  the  most  marvellous  changes  in 
boys  at  puberty  is  the  breaking  of  the  voice. 
The  reader  is  already  familiar  with  the 
prominence  to  be  seen  and  felt  in  the  front 
of  the  neck,  popularly  known  as  "  Adam's 
Apple."  On  this  prominence  the  finger  will 
distinguish  the  sharp  keel-like  projection  of 
the  chief  cartilage  of  the  larynx — the  thyroid 
cartilage.  A  notch  or  hollow  can  be  felt  on 
its  upper  border,  and  just  above  the  notch 
the  hyoid  bone,  which  moves  with  the  tongue. 


160  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

The  lower  border  of  the  thyroid  cartilage 
cannot  be  made  out  clearly  with  the  finger, 
but  about  half  an  inch  below  it,  the  anterior 
hoop  of  the  ring-like  cartilage  of  the  larynx 
— the  cricoid — can  be  felt.  Below  the  cricoid 
follow  the  cartilaginous  hoops  of  the  windpipe. 
Now  the  two  vocal  reeds  or  cords,  which  can 
be  set  vibrating  with  the  breath,  are  fixed 
within  the  keel  or  prominence  of  the  thyroid 
cartilage  by  their  anterior  ends,  while  their 
hinder  ends  are  attached  to  two  swivel-like 
cartilages  which  are  set  on  the  hinder 
and  upper  edge  of  the  cricoid  cartilage. 
When  we  are  breathing  naturally  the  vocal 
cords  are  drawn  apart  by  special  muscles, 
leaving  a  triangular  interval — ^the  glottis — • 
between  them.  When  we  speak  the  cords 
are  approximated  and  only  a  narrow  chink 
separates  them.  The  vocal  cords  can  be 
tightened  or  slackened,  thus  altering  the 
note  of  the  voice.  There  are  special  muscles 
for  every  movement  of  the  vocal  cords. 
Although  singers  may  not  know  a  single  one 
of  these  muscles,  they  can  learn  to  use  them, 
so  as  to  produce  what  sequence  of  notes  they 
will.  When  a  boy  reaches  the  age  of  puberty, 
all  these  structures  of  the  larynx — the  carti- 
lages, the  cords  and  the  muscles,  undergo  a 
rapid  growth ;  the  boy's  voice  "  breaks  " 
and  becomes  hoarse  and  then  manly.  It  is 
well  known  that  this  change  can  be  prevented, 
for  it  was  a  custom  in  eastern  countries  to 


SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  161 

emasculate  choir  boys,  in  order  to  preserve 
their  voices.  In  such  cases  the  other  sexual 
characters — the  beard,  the  muscular  develop- 
ment, the  face,  head,  neck  and  body  changes 
were  also  arrested.  One  other  remarkable 
change  occurred,  the  limbs,  especially  the 
legs,  grew  to  a  greater  length  than  in  the 
normal  man.  Eunuchs  are  much  above  the 
average  stature,  and  they  are  apt  to  become 
fat,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  is  a 
relationship  between  the  tendency  to  the 
deposition  of  fat,  especially  on  the  lower 
parts  of  the  body,  and  the  activity — or  rather 
non-activity — of  the  sexual  glands  in  men 
and  women. 

These  influences  of  the  sexual  glands  on  the 
growth  and  form  of  the  human  body  are  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  scientific  men,  because 
they  seem  to  afford  a  clue  to  the  laws  which 
regulate  the  shape  of  our  bodies.  Just  as  the 
activity  of  these  glands  leads  to  one  set  of 
bodily  changes,  so  it  happens,  as  their  activity 
decreases  and  their  influence  is  withdrawn, 
certain  parts  of  the  body  undergo  a  further 
modification.  In  most  women  a  decided 
change  comes  over  their  features  about  the 
fiftieth  year.  The  female  sexual  glands  are 
then  undergoing  a  down-grade  change.  Some 
of  these  changes,  such  as  the  increased 
wrinkling  of  the  skin  and  the  deepening  of 
natural  furrows,  are  purely  effects  of  age, 
but  the  increased  prominence  of  the  cheek 


162  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

bones,  the  more  decided  prominence  of  the 
supra-orbital  ridges,  the  more  massive  angles 
of  the  jaw  and  the  thickening  of  the  neck, 
seem  to  depend  on  some  other  factor.  There 
may  be  a  tendency  to  a  straggling  growth  of 
hair  on  the  lips  and  cheeks,  and  a  deepening 
in  the  tone  of  the  voice.  All  these  modifica- 
tions appear  to  be  a  mild  assertion  of  male 
characters — or  perhaps  it  would  be  more 
correct  to  say  of  neutral  or  asexual  characters, 
for  both  man  and  woman  are  modifications 
of  a  third  individual  which  we  may  name  the 
neuter  or  asexual.  The  withdrawal  of  the 
sexual  secretion,  which  restrained  the  growth 
of  certain  parts  and  helped  to  preserve  the 
attractions  of  young  womanhood,  seem  to 
allow  the  natural  forces  of  growth  to  reassert 
themselves.  In  men  the  function  of  the 
sexual  organs  persists  to  a  late  period  in  life, 
and  hence  we  see  no  corresponding  changes 
in  the  opposite  sex. 

It  will  be  observed  that  of  the  two  sexes, 
the  male  is  the  more  specialized  ;  the  female 
the  least.  It  is  she  who  retains  the  characters 
of  youth  or  of  childhood — not  only  in  the  face, 
neck  and  body,  to  a  much  greater  degree  than 
the  male,  but  women  have  also  the  good 
fortune  to  preserve  to  a  greater  extent  the 
power  of  enjoyment  of  life  which  is  natural 
to  the  child.  The  male  has  another  destiny  ; 
his  brute  strength  and  his  courage  are  bought 
with  a  price. 


SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  163 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  there  is 
a  greater  tendency  on  the  part  of  African  races, 
than  is  the  case  with  European  races,  to 
retain  certain  child-Hke  characters.  This  is 
also  true  as  regards  certain  sexual  characters. 
The  African  male,  as  a  rule,  shows  only  a 
slight  growth  of  hair  on  the  lips  and  cheeks 
at  puberty.  The  beard  does  not  sharply 
distinguish  the  male  from  the  female.  Nor 
is  the  female  pelvis  of  the  African  woman 
so  roomy  and  capacious  as  that  of  European 
women.  Indeed  in  primitive  races  there 
is  a  tendency  for  the  sexes  to  approach  each 
other  in  the  pelvic  characters. 


CHAPTER   XI 

RACIAL  CHARACTERS   OF  THE  BODY 

If  I  were  to  declare  openly  that  this  chapter 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  an  attempt  to 
expound  the  "  Principles  of  Physical  Anthro- 
pology," I  fear  that  I  should  turn  my  readers 
away  with  the  declaration  that  they  do  not 
wish  to  know  anything  of  a  subject  which 
has  such  a  forbidding  title.  The  subject, 
however,  is  really  not  uninteresting,  and  the 
reader  will  be  surprised  to  discover  he  knows 
much  more  of  it  than  he  is  aware.  Modern 
commerce  and  our  world-wide  enterprise  have 
brought  all  the  races  of  the  earth  as  visitors 
to  our  shores.  We  see  them  plentifully  in 
our  great  seaports,  and  even  in  the  most 
remote  country  villages  we  have  now  and  then 
an  opportunity  of  making  their  acquaintance. 
It  is  on  those  occasions  we  discover  that  we 
do  know  something  of  Anthropology — or  Eth- 
nology as  it  is  sometimes  named.  How 
otherwise  did  we  recognize  that  the  stranger 
who  drew  the  eyes  of  the  village  on  him  was 
a  Chinaman,  a  Red  Indian  or  a  Negro  ? 
If,  however,  we  are  asked  how  we  knew,  we 

164 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  165 

find  we  are  not  quite  certain,  and  that  our 
knowledge  of  the  subject  is  rather  subconscious. 
Those  who  study  the  bodily  characters  of  the 
varieties  of  mankind  are  seeking  to  make  this 
subconscious  knowledge  into  a  system  of 
well-defined  facts  to  which  the  name  of 
Physical  Anthropology  is  given.  We  collect 
these  facts  not  only  to  ascertain  how  one  race 
differs  from  another  in  structure  of  body, 
but  we  have  a  larger  aim  in  view,  we  wish  to 
know  how  and  when  the  earth  became 
populated  with  a  diverse  humanity. 

It  is  always  well  to  begin  our  study  at  home. 
When  we  see  a  regi-ment  in  full  dress  march 
past  we  recognize  it  as  the  "  Suffolks,"  the 
"  Gordons,"  the  "  Connaughts,"  or  the  "  Welsh 
Fusiliers,"  as  the  case  may  be.  When, 
however,  the  soldiers  file  silently  past,  dressed 
alike  in  a  fighting  uniform,  without  a  number 
or  a  badge,  can  we  distinguish  the  nationality  ? 
I  doubt  if  one  could,  and  I  hold  the  opinion 
that,  however  many  racial  stocks  have  been 
planted  from  time  to  time  within  the  bounds 
of  Britain,  the  condition  at  the  present  day 
is  such  that  we  cannot  tell — except  from 
speech,  temperament  or  local  mannerisms — 
whether  a  given  batch  of  men  are  English, 
Scotch,  Welsh  or  Irish.  It  is  possible  that  the 
professed  anthropologist,  by  making  a  series 
of  measurements  as  regards  height,  proportion, 
and  shape  of  head,  and  other  observations 
on  colour  of  skin,  and  eyes  and  hair,  could 


166  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

tell  the  part  of  the  country  from  which  each 
batch  came.  Our  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact 
that  in  every  county  we  see  that  there  are 
many  types  of  body  and  face  and  many  shades 
in  the  colour  of  hair  and  skin.  It  is  true  that  in 
some  counties  certain  types  prevail  and  other 
types  are  uncommon,  while  in  other  counties 
these  same  types  occur  in  an  opposite  pro- 
portion. At  the  present  time  there  is  a 
tendency  to  suppose  that  a  pure  race  is  made 
up  of  individuals  having  the  same  form  of 
body,  and  that,  if  within  the  bounds  of  a 
country  or  of  a  county  several  types  are 
found,  there  has  been  a  mixture  of  races  in 
that  country  or  county  in  past  times.  Such 
an  opinion  seems  quite  reasonable,  especially 
when  we  remember  how  many  invading 
peoples  have  settled  in  Britain  from  first  to 
last.  When,  however,  we  begin  to  survey 
even  the  purest  human  races  we  find  within 
their  communities  just  as  great  a  variety  of 
bodily  form  as  is  to  be  seen  in  any  part  of 
Britain.  Nay,  I  am  quite  certain  that  the 
reader  can  recall  families  in  which  some  were 
tall  and  some  short,  some  dark  and  some 
fair,  some  with  a  narrow  face  and  some  with 
a  wide  face.  The  existence  of  numerous 
types  and  varieties  inside  even  the  purest  race 
is  a  most  important  fact,  for  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  the  characters  of  the  race  might  be 
changed  if  certain  types  flourished  and 
increased  in  numbers,  while  other  types  were 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  167 

gradually  repressed  and  ultimately  dis- 
appeared. So  far  as  we  know  there  is  no 
selection  of  any  special  type  in  progress  in 
Britain. 

If,  however,  we  were  to  pick  a  man  from 
the  streets  of  Strassburg,  and  set  him 
side  by  side  with  the  first  man  we  met  in 
Nottingham,  we  should  probably  see  the  two 
chief  types  of  mankind  in  Western  Europe. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  national 
spirit,  the  speech,  the  hairdressing  and 
tailoring  which  mark  the  one  off  from  the 
other ;  these  are  of  the  greatest  importance, 
but  they  are  outside  the  bounds  of  physical 
anthropology.  The  colour  of  hair  and  com- 
plexion of  skin,  hue  of  eye,  may  be  the  same 
in  these  two  individuals  drawn  from  towns 
so  far  apart ;  their  faces  may  be  of  the  same 
type ;  it  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
Englishman's  face  is  the  longer  and  narrower. 
Their  stature  may  be  the  same — possibly  the 
Englishman  is  the  taller  by  about  half  an  inch, 
but  not  heavier.  The  form  of  head,  however, 
is  totally  different.  When  we  take  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Englishman's  head  we 
shall  probably  find  that  its  breadth  is  between 
seventy-four  and  seventy-six  per  cent,  of  its 
length,  or  if  we  wish  to  give  our  knowledge  a 
learned  turn  we  say  that  his  "  cephalic 
index  "  is  between  seventy-four  and  seventy- 
six.  In  the  Strassburger's  head  the  cephalic 
index  is  probably  between  eighty  and  eighty- 


168  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

two.  When  we  look  at  his  head  in  profile  it 
appears  as  if  it  had  been  compressed  frora 
back  to  front,  so  that  the  width  of  the  head 
has  been  increased  and  the  brain  pushed 
forwards,  thus  coming  to  occupy  a  more 
anterior  position  above  and  in  front  of  the 
ears.  The  height  of  the  head  is  increased. 
The  Englishman's  head  has  been  compressed 
from  side  to  side  and  rather  flattened  on  the 
top,  so  that  it  does  not  appear  to  be  so  high 
as  the  German  head.  We  find  then  that  the 
best  mark  to  distinguish  the  typical  English- 
man from  the  typical  German  is  the  shape 
of  the  head.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  in  Nottingham,  as  in  Strassburg, 
there  are  all  forms  of  head,  but  the  rounded 
type  prevails  in  the  one  and  the  long  type  in 
the  other.  It  is  possible,  but  very  unlikely, 
that  two  individuals,  selected  by  chance, 
may  have  the  same  types  of  head. 

If  we  estimate  the  capacity  of  the  skull  in 
these  two  selected  types  of  man,  we  shall 
probably  find  that  in  size  of  brain  chamber 
they  are  about  equal,  each  containing  from 
1,480  to  1,500  cubic  centimetres  of  brain. 
When,  however,  the  reader  asks  me  why  the 
head  is  long  in  one  and  round  in  the  other, 
I  must  confess  that  no  satisfactory  answer 
can  be  given  to  the  question  at  the  present 
time.  We  know,  however,  that  the  head  is 
artificially  and  grossly  distorted  in  infancy 
by    many    races    of    mankind — indeed    the 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  169 

custom  was  once  common  in  Europe — without 
producing  any  marked  mental  change.  The 
brain  also  suffers  a  change  in  shape  in  those 
cases  of  distortion,  but  travellers  have  noted 
that  the  men  with  the  altered  heads  are  just 
as  intelligent  as  those  whose  heads  have 
escaped  constriction.  The  brain  seems  to 
work  as  well  in  one  shape  of  skull  as  in 
another.  As  a  matter  of  daily  experience 
we  have  no  reason  to  think  that  the  round- 
headed  man  is  more  capable  than  the  long- 
headed, and  yet  when  we  come  to  trace  the 
history  of  long-headed  races  in  Europe  we 
meet  with  facts  which  give  matter  for  thought. 
If  we  make  a  survey  of  modern  Europe 
we  find  the  long-headed  races  scattered  along 
her  western  shores — in  Norway,  in  Britain, 
in  those  parts  of  Denmark,  Germany  and 
Holland  which  flank  the  North  Sea  ;  in  Spain, 
and  to  a  less  degree  in  parts  of  France  and 
Italy.  Round-headed  peoples  dominate  the 
great  central  region  of  Europe.  If,  however, 
we  go  back  5,000  years  and  examine  the 
graves  of  that  remote  period,  we  obtain  a 
different  picture  of  head  and  racial  distribution 
in  Europe.  The  German,  the  Swiss,  the 
French  graves  of  that  time  contain  the  bones 
of  men  who  were  of  the  long-headed  type  ;  we 
must  suppose  them  to  represent  the  people 
of  the  country  at  that  period.  We  know  from 
history  and  from  tradition  that  waves  of 
round-headed  races  have  pressed  westwards 


170  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

and  southwards  in  Europe,  and  all  the  evidence 
goes  to  show  that  these  waves  issued  from  that 
part  of  Europe  now  included  in  the  Russian 
Empire.  We  know,  too,  that  an  advance 
guard  of  the  round-head  invasion  reached 
our  shores  some  4,000  years  ago,  when  bronze 
was  the  metal  employed  by  civilized  races. 
Graves  of  these  people  have  been  found  from 
Yorkshire  to  Kent,  and  in  Scotland.  They 
were  conquerors  and  yet  they  could  not  save 
their  head-form  ;  in  the  course  of  generations 
the  round  head  merged  in  the  long,  not 
perhaps  without  some  effect  on  our  modern 
head-form.  We  have  every  reason  to  think, 
then,  that  in  Europe  the  round  head  is  the 
prevailing  type.  Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  discovery  of  America  and  of  Australia  the 
long-headed  type  of  European  would  have 
been  sparsely  represented  in  the  modern 
world. 

We  now  set  out  to  enquire  which  of  these 
two  types  of  head,  the  round  or  the  long,  is 
the  older  or  more  primitive.  We  turn  first 
to  the  anthropoid  skull  to  see  in  which  mould 
it  is  cast.  In  the  adults  we  find  that  the 
shape  of  the  essential  part  of  the  skull — the 
part  which  contains  the  brain — is  masked 
by  a  great  bony  framework  which  was  formed 
during  the  years  of  youth  to  give  attachment 
to  the  muscles  of  mastication.  We  must, 
therefore,  measure  the  skulls  of  the  young,  and 
in  them  we  find  the  breadth  amounts  to  eighty 


RACIAL   CHARACTERS  171 

per  cent,  or  more  of  the  length  of  the  skull. 
The  anthropoids  are  round-headed,  especi- 
ally the  orangs.  When  we  look  more  closely 
we  see  that  the  roundness  of  the  anthropoid 
head  is  altogether  different  in  character  from 
the  roundness  of  the  modern  European  head. 
We  see  at  once  that  the  anthropoid's  skull  is 
wide,  because  the  width  is  increased  at  the 
price  of  height ;  it  gives  the  impression  of 
having  been  compressed  from  above  down- 
wards into  a  bun-shaped  form,  the  width 
being  thus  increased  and  not  the  length. 
The  apparent  compression  of  the  human  skull 
is  rather  from  behind  forwards  as  in  round- 
headed  races  of  men,  or  from  side  to  side, 
as  in  long-headed  races.  Thus  we  cannot 
say  that  the  round  type  of  human  head  is 
more  anthropoid  than  the  long  one. 

When,  however,  we  examine  the  skulls  of 
the  most  ancient  men  yet  discovered,  the 
evidence  is  very  definite  ;  all  of  them  have 
the  long  form  of  head.  In  the  oldest  and 
most  primitive  type  yet  found — the  fossil 
man  of  Java — ^the  breadth  of  the  skull  is 
seventy-two  or  seventy-three  per  cent,  of  the 
length  ;  he  is  long-headed.  We  note  in  this 
skull,  however,  a  very  remarkable  feature — 
it  is  flattened  or  compressed  from  crown  to 
base,  as  we  have  seen  to  be  the  case  in  anthro- 
poid skulls.  In  another  very  ancient  skull 
from  Gibraltar  we  notice  this  anthropoid 
character  and  also  that  the  breadth  is  seventy- 


172  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

four  per  cent,  of  the  length.  In  the  Neander- 
thal race,  which  lived  in  Europe  during  the 
glacial  period,  the  head  is  also  of  the  long  type, 
and  indeed  the  length  of  their  skulls  is  much 
above  the  modern  average.  The  Cro-Magnon 
race,  whi<;h  came  long  after  the  Neanderthal 
and  yet  were  inhabitants  of  France  before  the 
glacial  period  had  closed,  were  remarkably 
long-headed.  The  oldest  man  yet  discovered 
in  England — ^the  Galley  Hill  man,  who  also 
apparently  belongs  to  the  glacial  period — 
had  a  remarkably  narrow  and  long  head ; 
the  breadth  is  only  sixty-nine  per  cent,  of  its 
length.  From  all  these  facts  we  must  conclude 
that  the  long  head  is  the  older  type.  Indeed, 
all  the  evidence  points  to  the  round  form  of 
skull  we  have  seen  in  the  citizen  of  Strassburg 
as  a  comparatively  recent  product  in  the 
evolution  of  human  races.  The  evolution  of 
the  form  of  the  human  skull  seems  to  have 
taken  place  in  the  following  order.  The 
anthropoid  skull,  short,  wide,  flat,  seems  to  be 
the  oldest  form.  In  the  early  human  stock  it 
became  long,  moderately  wide,  and  flattened ; 
later  it  became  long,  narrow,  and  high,  and 
lastly  short,  wide,  and  high. 

We  have  been  comparing  opposite  types 
of  head-form,  and  we  now  propose  to  contrast 
the  most  widely  divergent  types  of  mankind. 
As  one  of  these  we  select  again  the  man  from 
Strassburg,  premising  that  he  is  of  the  short- 
headed  or  brachycephalic  type,  with  blonde 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  173 

hair,  blue  eyes,  and  a  fair  clear  skin.  Beside 
him  we  propose  to  place,  for  purposes  of 
contrast,  a  negro  from  the  heart  of  Africa. 
Here  I  would  beg  of  the  reader  to  break  away 
from  the  common  habit  of  speaking  and 
thinking  of  various  races  as  high  and  low. 
When  we  meet  the  native  of  the  Congo  in  his 
home  we  find  that  he  does  not  share  our 
opinion  that  we  are  of  a  superior  race  and 
type ;  indeed,  his  candid  opinion  is  the 
reverse.  High  and  low  refers  to  civilization  ; 
it  does  not  refer  to  the  human  body.  When 
we  have  placed  a  Central  European  and  a 
Central  African  side  by  side,  we  see  before  us 
the  end  stems  of  the  two  most  divergent 
branches  of  humanity.  They  are  equally 
old  in  type,  and  we  may  truthfully  say 
equally  specialized.  We  believe  they  have 
arisen  from  a  common  stock,  but  that  must  be 
a  million  of  years  ago  or  more.  The  mere 
diversity  of  their  bodily  features  indicates 
an  evolutionary  period  of  great  length.  We 
note  the  difference  in  their  head-form  ;  the 
negro  has  a  long,  narrow  head  ;  its  cranial 
capacity  is  less,  and  on  the  average  the  brain 
is  simpler  in  its  pattern.  It  is  the  difference 
in  colour  that  impresses  us  most.  In  the 
negro  the  skin  and  eyes  are  laden  with  black 
pigment,  which  is  being  constantly  absorbed 
and  constantly  renewed.  Even  the  deeper 
parts  of  the  body  show  scattered  patches  of 
pigment.     In    the    Central    European    there 


174.  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

are  pigment  granules  in  the  skin,  but  the  skin 
must  be  cut  in  fine  sections  and  examined 
with  the  microscope  before  they  are  plainly 
visible.  The  contrast  in  colour  in  the  two 
types  is  so  great  that  it  seems  scarcely  credible 
that  we  a,re  dealing  with  the  same  species  of 
being.  Indeed,  there  are  many  who  maintain 
that  they  belong  to  different  species.  Yet 
we  know  that  intermixture  of  these  two  types 
produces  children  which  in  turn  are  fertile  for 
generation  after  generation. 

When,  too,  we  cross  from  Central  Europe  to 
Central  Africa,  we  see  that  these  two  extreme 
types  of  mankind  are  linked  together  by  all  the 
intervening  shades  between  fair  and  dark.  In 
Southern  Europe  the  skin  and  hair  become 
more  pigmented  ;  in  Northern  Africa  the  skin 
is  dark  brown  or  black.  Whenever  we  find 
an  intermediate  series  which  carries  us  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other,  we  believe  that 
those  extremes  may  have  arisen  from  a  com- 
mon stock.  We  see,  too,  how  the  inhabitants 
of  the  same  country  or  even  of  the  same 
parish,  may  show  many  shades  of  pigmentation 
— but  for  each  country  there  is  a  certain 
average,  and  the  variation  in  shade  is  bounded 
by  definite  limits.  When  we  v/ish  to  explain 
why  the  Central  European  is  fair  and  the 
Central  African  is  black,  we  are  brought  at 
once  to  a  dead  stop  by  our  ignorance.  We 
do  not  know  what  service  pigment  performs 
in   the   human   body.     We   cannot    suppose 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  175 

it  to  be  a  useless  substance.     It  is  true  that  it 
is  most  developed  in  those  who  live  in  hot 
climates,    yet   the   ancient   Tasmanians,    the 
natives   of   a   very  temperate   climate,   were 
black.     There  is  no  definite  proof  that  negroes 
become  less  black  in  temperate  countries,  nor 
that   fair   men   become   more   pigmented   in 
tropical  lands.     Yet  it  seems  most  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  pigment  of  the  skin  does 
protect  the  body  from  certain  rays  of  the  sun. 
Anthropologists  have  always  presumed  that 
the  primitive  human  stock  must  have  been 
dark-skinned.     Certainly  the  degree  of  pig- 
mentation seen  amongst  the  great  anthropoids 
lends  support  to  this  theory.     The  gorilla  is 
black  ;    there  are  various  races  or  varieties 
of    chimpanzee,    and     all    of    them    show    a 
degree  of  black  pigmentation.     In  one  variety 
the  skin  becomes  totally  black  ;    in  another, 
pigmentation  of  the  face  and  of  other  parts 
is  delayed  until  late  in  life  ;   in  others  the  face 
never  becomes   absolutely   black.     The   skin 
of  the  orang  is  also  deeply  pigmented,  but 
the  black  granules  are  masked  by  the  presence 
of  a  red  elem.ent.     The  evidence  supplied  by 
anthropoids  points  to  a  common  stock  with 
dark  pigmented  skins.     It  is  very  possible, 
however,  that  in  the  progress  of  evolution, 
the    degree    of   pigmentation    has    somewhat 
increased  in  the  pure  negro  races,  while  in  the 
Central    European    it    has    become    greatly 
diminished.     One    is    led   to    form    such    an 


176  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

opinion  from  the  skin  colour  of  the  natives 
of  Australia.  They  have  so  many  primitive 
features  in  the  structure  of  their  bodies  that 
it  is  also  possible  that  their  skin  colour  is 
likewise  primitive.  Their  skins  are  not  so 
deeply  pigmented  as  in  the  typical  negro. 
On  the  whole,  the  evidence  points  to  the  stock 
from  which  human  races  have  arisen  as  having 
had  brown  pigmented  skins.  The  very  black 
African  and  very  fair  European  races  may 
represent  comparatively  recent  products  in  the 
evolution  of  modern  races. 

We  must  return  to  the  consideration  of  the 
African  and  European  types  of  mankind  now 
standing  before  us.  We  shall  admit,  I  think, 
that  in  character  of  skull  and  of  brain,  and  in 
colour  of  skin,  the  negro  shows  the  older  type, 
but  in  the  character  of  his  hair  this  is  not  so. 
The  woolly  hair,  coiled  naturally  into  little 
isolated  locks,  is  unlike  the  hair  of  ape  or  man. 
It  is  a  feature  of  the  negro  or  negroid  races, 
and  was  evolved  with  them.  The  straight 
black  or  wavy  brown  hair  of  the  European 
appears  to  be  more  primitive  in  character. 
There  are  two  other  features  of  the  negro's 
face  which  appear  to  be  specializations  or 
departures  from  the  primitive  type.  The 
thick  everted  lips  are  very  different  from  the 
thin  straight  lips  of  the  anthropoid  apes. 
The  thin  European  lips  seem  a  more  primitive 
type,  and  yet  when  sections  are  made  of  the 
lips  of  Europeans  and  Africans  certain  features 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  177 

are  seen  which  make  us  hesitate  to  endorse  this 
opinion.  Then,  again,  there  are  the  characters 
of  the  forehead.  It  is  true  that  in  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa  we  meet  natives  with 
prominent  supraorbital  ridges  and  receding 
foreheads.  In  the  typical  African  negro  this 
is  not  the  case  ;  the  forehead  as  a  rule  is  high, 
narrow,  often  prominent  or  bulging,  and  the 
supraorbital  ridges  are  moderately  or  slightly 
developed — distinctly  less  prominent  than  in 
the  European.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of 
doubt  that  the  stock  from  which  modern  man 
is  descended  had  great  supraorbital  ridges. 
They  are  still  to  be  found  in  a  fairly  primitive 
form  in  native  Australians,  but  to  see  them 
at  their  best  one  must  examine  the  skulls  of 
those  ancient  Europeans — the  Neanderthal 
race.  In  the  gorilla  especially,  and  also 
in  the  chimpanzee,  these  supraorbital  ridges 
form  prominent  bony  ledges  or  shelves  above 
their  sunken  eyes.  The  typical  negro  is  desti- 
tute of  great  supraorbital  ridges,  which  are 
primitive  features. 

When  we  compare  the  negro  and  European 
nose  it  may  be  a  question  as  to  which  is  the 
more  primitive.  Neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  is  like  the  nose  of  the  anthropoid,  and 
yet  of  the  two,  the  sharp,  narrow,  prominent 
nose  of  the  European,  with  its  high  bridge  and 
compressed  wings,  must  be  admitted  to  be  the 
more  specialized  type.  If,  however,  we  leave 
the   Congo   Valley    and   make   our   way   to 

M 


178  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

Egypt  along  the  Valley  of  the  Nile,  we  shall 
meet  with  various  negro  tribes  in  whom  the 
nose  is  narrow  and  prominent  and  almost 
European  in  shape. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  shape  of 
the  nose  does  depend  to  a  considerable  degree 
on  the  development  of  the  teeth  and  jaws. 
A  long,  prominent  and  narrow  nose  is  usually 
part  of  a  face  in  which  the  palate  is  narrow  or 
contracted  and  in  which  the  jaws  have  grown 
in  length  rather  than  in  width  and  strength. 
In  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Europe  we  find 
the  jaws  and  teeth  well  and  regularly  developed 
and  the  nose  of  fair  width.  In  modern 
Europeans,  especially  in  those  with  long  heads, 
we  find  a  tendency  to  an  irregular  development 
of  the  jaws  and  to  an  elongation  and  narrowing 
of  the  face,  with  the  result  that  the  nose  also 
is  rendered  sharper  and  more  prominent. 
The  jaws  and  cheeks  have  retreated  and  left 
the  nose  as  a  narrow  prominent  organ  on  the 
face  of  the  typical  European.  In  Central 
Africa  we  find  other  tendencies  at  work  ;  the 
teeth  are  big,  white,  and  regularly  set  in 
well-developed  jaws.  The  face  is  broad  rather 
than  long.  The  jaws  may  be  so  well  grown 
as  actually  to  give  the  individual  the  appear- 
ance of  having  a  muzzle.  The  nose  is 
correspondingly  flat  and  wide.  In  brief,  I 
conceive  it  possible  that  the  nose  of  the 
negro  might  assume  a  European  form  were  his 
teeth   and  jaws   to   undergo   those   changes 


RACIAL   CHARACTERS  179 

which  are  apparently  occurring  amongst  the 
civilized  peoples  of  Europe  and  America. 

There  are  other  features  of  the  body  we 
ought  to  contrast  in  the  European  and 
African — the  longer  forearm  and  leg  of  the 
latter,  the  absence  of  calf  and  longer  heel,  the 
different  type  of  ear,  but  enough  has  been  said 
to  give  some  idea  of  the  chief  bodily  features 
in  which  one  race  of  mankind  differs  from 
another. 

In  Eastern  Asia  we  find  another  distinctive 
type  of  modern  man.  We  may  take  the 
Chinaman  as  a  representative  and  place  him 
with  the  Central  European  for  comparison. 
They  are  both  short-headed  or  brachycephalic, 
but  their  heads  are  essentially  different  in 
shape.  The  Mongolian  head  is  really  round 
or  ball-shaped.  The  skin  is  pigmented — 
less  so  than  in  negro  races,  but  more  so  than 
in  European.  The  hair  is  strong,  lank  and 
black.  The  stature  is  short — perhaps  two 
inches  less  than  in  the  European,  the  shorten- 
ing being  due  not  to  a  diminution  in  length  of 
trunk  so  much  as  to  a  shortening  of  the  legs. 
In  size  of  brain  there  is  nothing  to  choose 
between  the  two  types.  The  chief  difference 
lies  in  the  face.  The  cheek  bones  are  promi- 
nent, the  teeth  good,  and  the  jaws  strong  in 
the  Chinaman,  but  we  note  at  once  that  the 
supraorbital  ridges  are  less  developed  than  in 
the  European.  In  this  the  Mongol  resembles 
the   negro,    but   his   forehead   is    wide,    not 


180  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

narrow  as  in  the  negro.  The  essential 
Mongolian  feature  is  the  nose — its  low  sunken 
bridge  over  which  one  eye  can  almost  see  its 
neighbour.  With  the  depression  of  the  nose 
a  peculiar  fold  of  skin — the  epicanthic  fold- 
is  drawn  like  a  curtain  above  the  inner  angle 
of  the  eye.  The  eyes  seem  set  at  an  oblique 
angle,  a  feature  which  Chinese  artists  love  to 
emphasize.  The  Mongolian  face,  when  com- 
pared with  the  European,  is  remarkably  flat 
and  shield-like.  The  forehead,  the  prominent 
cheek  bones,  the  sunken  nose  and  well- 
developed  jaws  all  take  a  part  in  forming  this 
facial  plateau. 

Thus  we  find  contrasted  types  of  man  have 
been  evolved  at  divergent  points  or  centres  of 
the  old  world — in  Europe,  in  Africa,  in  Asia. 
When  we  remember  that  the  skulls  and  limb 
bones  of  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  have 
changed  remarkably  little  during  5,000  years 
we  must  conclude  that  evolution  amongst 
human  races  does  not  proceed  quickly.  One 
finds  the  same  form  of  skull  among  English- 
men of  to-day,  as  occurred  in  the  men  who 
lived  in  Britain  many  thousands  of  years  ago. 
If  then,  we  believe  in  evolution,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  well  marked  differences 
which  characterize  the  races  of  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa,  must  be  the  result  of  a  very  long 
period  of  time. 

All  the  factors  which  have  operated  to 
produce  characteristic  racial  features  we  do  not 


RACIAL  CHARACTERS  181 

know,  but  there  is  one  with  which  every  one  is 
familiar.  If  the  reader  has  had  the  fortune 
to  be  born  and  bred  in  the  country  he  will 
remember  perhaps  that  as  a  boy  he  was  pre- 
pared to  defend  the  claims  of  his  fellow- 
parishioners  against  those  of  neighbouring 
parishes.  In  after  years  when  he  had  left 
his  home  and  taken  up  his  abode  in  a  strange 
town  or  country,  he  has  probably  observed 
that  a  man  of  his  ovm  county  or  town  has 
some  indefinite  claim  upon  him  over  another 
man.  He  is  inclined  to  trust  a  member  of  his 
own  nationality  rather  than  that  of  another. 
The  feeling  or  prejudice,  which  subconsciously 
influences  him,  is  the  backbone  of  nationality  ; 
it  is  the  moving  force  which  welds  together  a 
community.  It  is  that  inborn  feeling  to 
which  the  name  of  race  prejudice  or  race  caste 
has  been  given.  That  is  the  feeling  expressed 
from  the  politician's  or  economist's  point  of 
view,  but  it  has  also  a  meaning  for  the  biolo- 
gist. The  same  mental  trait,  which  we  see 
operating  in  a  village,  and  which  we  see  bind- 
ing a  scattered  people  into  a  nation,  is,  I 
think,  the  innate  mental  character  which 
binds  the  animals  of  one  species  or  of  one 
variety  together,  and  it  nourishes  and  streng- 
thens the  community  which  it  binds  together, 
and  at  the  same  time  sets  that  community  at 
enmity  with  every  other  community  which 
lies  outside  its  borders.  In  such  communities 
new  physical  types  may  be  evolved,  and  we 


182  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

can  see  how  a  sense  of  caste  may  keep 
the  type  pure,  and  how  pride  of  race  may 
lead  to  the  expansion  of  territory  and  the 
propagation  of  a  racial  type. 

The  sense  of  caste  or  race  seems  to  have 
played  a  great  part  in  the  separation  of  man- 
kind into  the  numerous  races  which  are  now 
scattered  over  the  earth.  Unless  it  be 
present  no  community  or  nation  could  extend 
its  borders  without  losing  its  individuality 
in  neighbouring  peoples.  The  Portuguese 
settlements  in  Africa  and  in  the  far  East 
during  the  sixteenth  century  offer  us  an 
example  in  point.  So  little  was  their  sense 
of  race  developed  that  in  a  few  genera- 
tions the  blood  of  the  original  settlers  was 
swamped  by  the  blood  of  native  races. 
Anglo-Saxons  have  succeeded  as  colonists, 
and  not  the  least  element  of  their  success 
is  due  to  their  highly  developed  sense  of 
race.  Cosmopolitanism  is  a  condition  in  which 
the  prejudices  relating  to  race  have  been 
eradicated. 


CHAPTER  XII 

BODILY  FEATURES  AS  INDEXES  OF  MENTAL 
CHARACTER 

There  is  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  that 
those  who  pretend  to  read  character  from  the 
shape  of  the  head — phrenologists — and  from 
the  lines  of  the  hand — palmists — boast  of  a 
knowledge  they  do  not  actually  possess.  In 
the  course  of  this  chapter  we  shall  see  what 
grounds  there  are  for  supposing  that  the  head 
or  hand  can  guide  us  to  the  character  of  their 
owner.  There  is  one  part  of  the  body,  how- 
ever, we  are  constantly  appealing  to,  and 
ever  drawing  inferences  from — sometimes 
rightly,  sometimes  wrongly,  and  that  is  the 
face.  IMost  of  us  believe  that  the  face  may 
show  what  the  mind  is  really  trying  to  hide. 
It  is  not  the  bony  ground-work  of  the  face 
that  guides  us,  it  is  the  expression  we  note. 
Now  the  skin  of  the  face  has  been  furnished 
with  a  special  means  for  reflecting  our  mental 
states.  It  is  under  the  control  of  an  elaborate 
system  of  muscles,  regulated  by  a  special 
nerve — the  facial  or  seventh  cranial  nerve.  Its 
vessels  are  most  delicately  controlled  by  the 

183 


184  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

sympathetic  nerve  system  over  which  the 
will  has  no  power.  The  sympathetic  system 
responds  to  our  emotions  until  experience 
and  years  have  blunted  the  delicacy  of  the 
adjustment.  In  anger  or  in  fright  the  vessels 
react  to  the  nerve  centres  which  control  them  ; 
they  become  restricted  in  anger,  giving  the 
face  a  blanched  or  livid  appearance  ;  in  shame 
or  in  joy  the  vessels  dilate  and  our  faces 
blush  or  flush.  The  faces  of  men  who  are 
exposed  to  all  kinds  of  weather  turn  ruddy  in 
the  course  of  years,  because  the  vaso-motor 
or  vessel-regulating  mechanism  becomes  ex- 
hausted. 

As  a  means  of  expression  the  vaso-motor 
mechanism  is  a  minor  one  ;  the  facial  muscles 
form  the  chief.  A  pair  of  these  muscles — 
the  frontal — form  a  sheet  beneath  the  skin 
of  the  forehead  ;  they  can  lift  up  the  eyebrows, 
puckering  the  skin  into  folds  which  cross  the 
brow.  As  long  as  the  skin  retains  its  youth- 
ful elasticity,  and  especially  in  those  who  live 
placid  lives,  free  from  pain  or  care,  the  wrinkles 
disappear  as  soon  as  the  muscles  cease  to 
strain,  but  in  most  men  by  the  age  of  forty, 
the  wrinkles  on  the  forehead  have  become 
permanent  marks.  The  action  of  the  frontal 
muscles  can  be  reversed.  If  the  skin  of  the 
eyebrows  is  fixed  by  bringing  into  action  the 
muscle  which  encircles  each  orbit,  the  frontal 
muscles  then  exert  their  power  on  the  scalp 
and    move    it    forward.     Another   pair — ^the 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  185 

occipital — are  attached  to  the  scalp  behind 
and  act  as  opponents  in  moving  the  scalp 
back.  Many  people  lose,  or  never  acquire, 
the  power  of  voluntarily  throwing  these 
muscles  into  action.  The  muscles  of  the 
scalp  are  especially  well  developed  in  apes, 
and  every  one  must  have  noted  how  freely 
these  animals  can  use  them  as  a  means  of 
threatening  their  foes  or  welcoming  their 
friends. 

The  eyes  are  full  of  expression  and  yet  as  the 
portrait  painter  knows  well — it  is  difficult  to 
analyse  the  various  points  on  which  we  form 
our  judgment.  In  some,  the  eyes  seem  large, 
in  others  small,  but  the  difference  is  really  due 
to  the  amount  exposed  by  the  lids,  for  as 
regards  actual  size  our  eyes  are  the  least 
variable  structures  of  our  body.  The  upper 
lid  is  the  real  movable  curtain  of  the  eye. 
A  special  muscle  within  the  orbit  lifts  it  up 
and  keeps  it  up  so  long  as  we  are  awake ;  in 
sleep  it  passes  out  of  action.  In  alert  men 
this  muscle  is  strenuously  in  action.  The 
upper  eyelid  is  also  provided  with  an  involun- 
tary muscle,  which,  like  the  arteries  of  the 
face,  is  regulated  by  the  sympathetic  system 
and  alters  the  lid  with  each  change  in  the 
emotional  state.  In  fright  our  eyes  seem  to 
start  from  our  heads,  so  vigorously  do  these 
involuntary  muscles  act.  Soon  after  adult 
life  is  reached  the  eyelids  lose  their  delicate 
outlines  and  the  skin  round  the  orbits  becomes 


186  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

wrinkled  and  often  loose.  The  wrinkling  is 
due  to  the  orbital  muscle  which  forms  a  loop- 
shaped  sheet  of  muscle  round  each  orbit. 
The  muscle  is  primarily  for  closing  the  lids 
and  protecting  the  eyes  ;  we  feel  it  come  into 
action  when  we  pass  from  the  shade  into  the 
strong  sunlight.  It  draws  the  eyebrows  over 
the  eyes  and  thus  shades  them.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  skin  on  the  cheek  and  temple, 
and  on  the  outer  side  of  the  eyes  is  thrown  into 
radiating  folds  or  wrinkles  when  the  orbital 
muscles  are  in  action.  As  the  skin  loses  its 
elasticity  these  wrinkles  become  permanent 
and  form  "  crow's  feet." 

As  a  means  of  expression  the  muscles  of  the 
nose  are  not  of  importance.  On  the  wing  of  the 
nose  are  found  very  reduced  representatives  of 
those  strong  and  active  muscles  which  dilate 
and  close  the  nostrils  of  the  winded  horse. 
We  speak  of  "  turning  our  noses  up  "  ;  we 
have  no  muscles  specially  provided  for  this 
purpose — ^but  there  is  on  each  side  a  muscle 
with  the  unsatisfactory  name  of  compressor 
nasi,  which  has  the  power  of  drawing  the 
adjacent  skin  towards  the  ridge  of  the  nose — - 
a  means  of  expressing  contempt. 

The  most  elaborate  mechanism  for  expres- 
sion is  found  in  connexion  with  the  lips  and 
mouth.  The  lips  are  used  in  speech  and  change 
with  every  form  of  emotion.  As  one  may  guess 
from  the  manifold  movements  of  the  lips,  the 
arrangement  of  the  muscles  within  them — the 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  187 

orbicular  musculature  of  the  mouth — is  most 
complex.  Special  muscles  are  provided  for 
lifting  the  upper  lip  and  depressing  the  lower  ; 
each  angle  of  the  mouth  has  its  "  levator  " 
and  its  "  depressor."  In  some,  the  levator  is 
the  domxinating  muscle  and  the  corners  of  the 
mouth  are  drawn  upwards  into  a  suggested 
smile,  just  as  in  others  the  corners  droop  under 
the  influence  of  the  depressor  muscles.  While 
the  skin  is  loosely  attached  on  the  face  and 
cheeks,  over  the  lips  and  in  their  neighbour- 
hood it  is  closely  bound  down.  The  line 
"which  marks  the  junction  of  the  fixed  labial 
skin  with  the  free  skin  of  the  cheeks  corre- 
sponds to  a  furrow  which  passes  obliquely 
downwards  from  each  side  of  the  nose  until 
it  passes  beyond  and  outside  the  angles  of 
the  mouth,  thus  separating  the  upper  lip 
from  the  cheek.  These  naso-labial  folds  often 
deepen  with  age,  becoming  very  marked  in 
some  people.  They  are  caused  by  the  muscles 
which  act  on  the  upper  lip  ;  in  laughing,  for 
instance,  the  curtain-like  upper  lip  is  drawn, 
partly  beneath  the  skin  of  the  cheeks  along  the 
lines  of  the  right  and  left  naso-labial  folds. 
With  age  the  lips  invariably  lose  their  sharp 
outlines  and  their  elasticity  ;  in  some  they 
become  drawn  and  tight  under  the  continual 
contraction  of  the  orbicular  muscle  situated 
within  them  ;  in  others  the  muscle  becomes 
relaxed  and  the  mouth  becomes  loose  and 
partly  open  or  the  lower  lip  hangs.     The  skin 


188  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

over  the  chin  has  a  curious  muscle  which  acts 
on  it,  sometimes  named  the  "  shaving " 
muscle,  as  it  is  employed  to  steady  the  skin 
of  the  chin  against  the  razor.  Its  real  use 
seems  to  consist  in  removing  food  from  the 
recess  behind  the  lower  lip.  The  muscles 
of  the  cheek — ^the  buccinator  muscles — so 
called  because  they  are  seen  in  action  in  the 
puffed-out  cheeks  of  the  trumpeter,  are  also 
used  in  mastication,  to  place  the  food  between 
the  chewing  crowns  of  the  teeth.  The  muscles 
of  the  lips  and  cheek  are  employed  in  speech 
as  well  as  in  expression. 

A  wide  sheet  of  the  facial  musculature — the 
platysma  myoides — extends  into  the  subcu- 
taneous tissue  of  the  neck.  Under  normal 
circumstances  this  muscle  acts  on  the  mouth 
and  jaw,  drawing  them  downwards  and  back- 
wards. When  an  effort  is  made  with  teeth 
clenched  and  all  the  muscles  of  the  body  strain- 
ing, the  action  of  the  platysma  is  reversed ; 
its  fixed  point  is  in  the  face,  and  the  muscle 
stretches  and  tightens  the  skin  of  the  neck. 
The  significance  of  this  action  is  unknown. 
The  platysma  is  the  remains  of  a  system  of 
musculature  which  forms  a  complete  sheet 
under  the  skin  of  the  trunk  of  many  mammals. 
It  endows  the  skin  with  mobility.  Every  one 
knows  how  the  horse  can  twitch  the  summer 
flies  from  its  sides.  In  man  and  the  anthro- 
poid apes  the  muscles  of  the  face  and  neck  are 
all  that  remains  of  a  great  sheet,  which  in 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  189 

some  animals  is  seen  to  be  spread  under  the 
skin  of  the  whole  trunk. 

The  facial  muscles  of  man  are  remarkable 
for  their  degree  of  differentiation  and  for  their 
relatively  small  size.  The  great  anthropoids 
have  really  the  same  muscles  but  have  them 
somewhat  differently  arranged  and  somewhat 
less  distinctly  separated  from  one  another.  In 
the  gibbon  and  monkeys  of  the  old  and  new 
worlds  the  facial  system  becomes  still  simpler 
and  at  the  same  time  more  robust.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  the  facial  muscles  of 
primates  keep  pace  in  their  evolution  with  the 
brain  ;  as  the  convolutions  increase  in  number 
and  capacity,  the  muscles  of  the  face  become 
smaller  and  more  finely  differentiated.  The 
study  of  anatomy  therefore  supports  the 
experience  of  our  every-day  life  that  much 
can  be  learned  of  mental  character  and 
capacity  from  the  muscles  of  the  face.  It  is 
clear  that  they  are  evolved  as  the  servants 
of  the  brain.  The  human  brain,  however,  has 
the  power  of  mastering  and  masking  true  feel- 
ings, and  hence  it  is  also  true  that  a  smiling 
face  may  mask  a  sad  heart. 

The  story  of  the  evolution  of  the  muscles  of 
the  face  is  a  very  wonderful  one.  It  has  already 
been  said  that  the  whole  of  the  facial  system 
is  supplied  by  the  seventh  cranial  nerve.  In 
fishes  and  lower  vertebrates  the  seventh  is 
the  nerve  of  the  second  or  hyoid  branchial 
arch,  supplying  the  muscles  of  that  arch ;   in 


190  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  human  embryo  the  nerve  hes  within  the 
hyoid  arch.  It  is  from  this  arch  that  the  gill- 
cover  and  its  muscles  are  developed  in  fishes. 
Now  it  is  a  remarkable  thing  that  the  muscles 
of  the  face  should  be  supplied  by  the  nerve 
of  the  gill-cover  arch  and  still  more  remarkable 
that  the  muscles  of  the  face  should  first  appear 
in,  and  be  produced  from  this  arch.  Arising 
over  the  side  of  the  arch  they  spread  out  under 
the  skin  of  the  face  and  take  up  their  final 
position  round  the  eyes,  nose,  mouth  and  ear. 
All  the  links  in  the  chain  of  evolution  we 
do  not  yet  know,  but  we  can  only  explain  the 
nerve  supply  and  origin  of  the  facial  muscles 
by  supposing  that  they  have  been  modified 
somehow  from  the  actively  moving  respira- 
tory gill-cover  of  fishes.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  when  we  are  winded  we  do  bring  the 
platysma  of  our  necks  actively  into  use  during 
forced  respirations. 

The  external  ear  also  arises  in  connexion 
with  the  branchial  system.  The  ear  passage 
represents  the  upper  end  of  the  first  cleft  and 
the  ear  is  developed  round  it  from  a  series  of 
outgrowths.  The  muscles  which  move  it  are 
derived  from  the  same  sheet  as  the  muscles  of 
expression.  In  man  these  muscles  are  small, 
often  vestigial.  Besides  very  minute  muscles 
which  are  situated  on  the  ear  itself  there 
are  three  muscles  which  act  on  it  as  a  whole 
— one  which  can  pull  it  upwards,  another 
forwards    and    a    third    backwards.     In    a 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  191 

few  individuals  these  muscles  may  actually 
move  the  ear  at  will  but  they  cannot  really 
be  called  muscles  of  expression  in  man. 
In  the  great  anthropoids  these  muscles 
are  as  much  reduced  as  in  man ;  in  the 
orang  they  are  even  more  so,  for  in  that 
animal  the  outer  ear  is  of  very  small  size  and 
closely  applied  to  the  head.  In  monkeys 
the  muscles  are  larger  and  the  ear  can  be 
moved,  but  not  with  that  flexibility  which  is 
characteristic  of  such  animals  as  the  doff  and 
horse  ;  in  which  the  ears  are  truly  organs  of 
expression  as  well  as  of  hearing.  When  a 
monkey  is  angry  it  draws  its  ears  back- 
wards. 

I  am  not  aware  of  any  one  having  studied 
the  external  ear  as  a  clue  to  character,  nor  is 
there  any  fact  which  leads  us  to  suppose  such 
a  study  would  be  profitable.  On  the  other 
hand  it  has  been  alleged  that  the  ear  may 
serve  as  an  index  to  that  type  of  man  who  is  re- 
garded as  a  "  degenerate,"  an  individual  who 
is  lacking  in  self-control  and  who  is  inclined 
to  sacrifice  the  good  of  the  community  to 
selfish  and  evil  passions.  Certain  features, 
such  as  abnormal  crumpling  up  or  infolding 
of  the  ear,  and  the  absence  of  a  lobule  have  been 
supposed  to  indicate  such  a  tendency.  The 
evidence  on  the  whole  is  against  the  theory 
that  an  inferior  nature  is  stamped  by  certain 
traits  of  the  ear  or  any  other  part  of  the  body, 
but  an  enquiry  into  this  matter  is  attended 


192  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

with  great  difficulty  owing  to  the  extraordinary 
variability  of  the  outer  ear. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  outer  ear- 
of  the  great  anthropoids  and  man  are  similar  in 
type.  In  all  of  them  the  ear  has  lost  its  tip  or 
point ;  only  a  remnant  may  be  seen  towards 
the  upper  part  of  the  posterior  border  on  the 
inturned  margin  of  the  ear.  There  is  a  distinct 
sexual  difference ;  the  ears  of  women  are 
smaller  and  more  folded  than  those  of  men  and 
the  lobule  is  usually  larger.  There  is  an  age 
change  ;  after  fifty  the  ear  begins  to  enlarge. 
The  ear  also  varies  with  race,  one  could  tell 
a  Bushman  by  his  small  ears,  with  the  hinder 
margins  curved  over  to  form  a  wide  welt. 
In  other  races  the  ears  are  large  and  project 
from  the  sides  of  the  head,  as  is  invariably 
the  case  in  the  chimpanzee.  Indeed  it  is 
possible  in  every  community  to  see  some 
individuals  who  in  type  of  ear  recall  the  re- 
duced form  seen  in  the  orang,  some  the  large 
outstanding  ear  of  the  chimpanzee,  and 
some  the  medium  sized  ears  of  the  gorilla 
closely  appressed  to  the  head.  The  degenera- 
tion of  the  external  ear  in  man  and  anthropoids 
is  another  result  of  the  upright  posture  ;  they 
turn  their  heads,  in  place  of  their  ears,  in  the 
direction  from  which  a  sound  appears  to 
come. 

We  have  already  seen  that  there  is  no 
correspondence  between  the  functions  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  brain,  so  far  as  we  yet 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  193 

know  them  and  the  overlying  parts  of  the 
head  to  which  phrenologists  have  assigned 
definite  functions  (p.  32).  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  certain  features  of  the  head 
may  be  associated  with  definite  mental 
tendencies.  Every  one  of  us  has  a  difficulty 
in  believing  that  intellectual  ability  can  be 
associated  with  a  receding  forehead,  yet  the 
experience  of  daily  life  convinces  most  of  us 
that  the  forehead  is  a  most  unreliable  sign. 
Strongly  marked  eyebrow  ridges  are  usually 
significant  of  energy  and  strength,  and  one 
can  understand  such  an  associationship,  for 
beetling  brows  are  usually  a  sign  of  muscular 
development.  The  chin  is  another  feature 
which  also  seems  significant  of  character ; 
a  man  with  a  pronounced  chin  is  usually  also 
one  of  determination.  The  chin  is  sometimes 
defined  as  a  character  of  man  ;  rightly  it 
should  be  regarded  as  a  character  of  modern 
man.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that 
the  mandible  is  made  up  of  two  parts — a 
part  for  carrying  the  roots  of  the  teeth — the 
alveolar  part — and  a  part  which  forms  the 
frame-work  of  the  floor  of  the  mouth.  Now 
in  primitive  races  the  teeth  are  large  and  so 
is  the  alveolar  part  of  the  mandible ;  it  actu- 
ally projects  beyond  the  chin,  which  is  then  said 
to  be  receding.  If  we  supposed  that  the  teeth 
were  to  become  reduced  in  size  and  perhaps 
in  number,  and  there  are  good  grounds  for 
supposing  civilization  has  produced  this  effect, 


194  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  alveolar  part  of  the  jaw  will  recede  and 
leave  the  chin  prominent.  Hence  the  chin  is 
never  well  marked  in  primitive  races  with  large 
teeth  and  mouths — such  as  the  natives  of 
Australia,  of  Africa  and  of  New  Guinea. 
There  is  probably  also  a  positive  growth  of  the 
chin  forwards  in  connexion  with  the  muscles 
of  the  tongue  and  of  the  floor  of  the  mouth. 
We  thus  see  that  a  prominent  chin  marks  as 
it  were  a  step  in  evolution,  and  may  indicate 
a  special  mental  trait — such  as  determination. 
We  come  now  to  deal  with  the  hand,  which 
has  been  exploited  by  one  class  of  men  as  a 
guide  to  human  character  and  extolled  by 
another  class  as  the  most  remarkable  of  man's 
characters.  The  hand  is  beyond  doubt  a 
very  wonderful  mechanism,  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  remind  the  reader  that  the  hand  is  only 
the  passive  instrument  of  that  much  more 
marvellous  mechanism — the  human  brain. 
Professor  Klaatsch  is  perfectly  right  when  he 
maintains  that  the  human  hand  is  modelled  on 
a  most  primitive  and  antique  type.  It  retains 
the  five  digits  of  the  earliest  of  mammals; 
even  in  some  of  the  lowest  of  these  the  first 
digit  is  modified  to  a  thumb.  The  anatomical 
difierences  between  the  hand  of  man  and  of 
the  gorilla  are  really  not  great  ones.  As 
regards  function,  that  is  a  different  matter ; 
the  hand  of  the  gorilla  is  heavy  and  clumsy 
because  its  chief  function  is  to  support  the 
weight  of  the  body  during  progression.     In  the 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  195 

chimpanzee  and  orang  the  palm  and  fingers 
are  very  long  and  narrow ;  they  are  capable 
of  grasping  and  supporting  the  animal  from 
the  thickest  branches.  In  man  the  hands  have 
been  set  free  from  the  purposes  of  locomotion 
and  have  become  specialized  as  manipulative 
instruments.  In  swinging  from  branch  to 
branch  the  anthropoids  use  their  fingers  as 
hooks  ;  their  thumbs  serve  only  for  the  minor 
purposes  of  grasping  and  lifting  small  objects. 
Hence  in  all  the  great  anthropoids  the  thumbs 
are  small ;  in  the  orang  they  are  so  reduced 
that  one  may  say  that  they  are  vestigial. 
The  nail  is  often  absent  from  the  thumb  of  the 
orang  so  small  is  the  last  phalanx  or  joint. 
The  great  size  of  the  human  thumb  will  be 
apparent  when  it  is  contrasted  with  the  middle 
digit.  In  man  it  usually  measures  68  to  70 
per  cent,  of  the  length  of  the  middle  digit ; 
in  the  gorilla,  which  has  the  most  human-like 
hand,  it  is  equal  to  43  per  cent,  of  the  length 
of  the  middle  digit.  The  thumb  of  man  is 
characterized  by  its  highly  developed  muscu- 
lature. The  special  flexor  or  bender  of  the 
thumb  is  a  large  and  distinct  muscle  ;  in 
anthropoids  it  is  so  reduced  as  to  be  almost  a 
vestige  ;  in  the  gibbon  it  is  also  large  but 
it  is  conjoined  with  the  flexor  of  the  index 
finger.  In  man  the  great  flexor  of  the  thumb 
is  undergoing  a  progressive  change  ;  in  the 
great  anthropoids  a  retrogressive  one. 

There  is  also  a  new  extensor  muscle  on  the 


196  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

human  thumb.  There  are  three  segments 
for  the  thumb,  each  of  which  has  an  extensor 
muscle  in  man.  In  all  apes  the  middle  seg- 
ment has  no  extensor,  with  one  important 
exception.  In  a  small  proportion  of  gorillas 
we  find  the  rudiment  of  such  a  muscle  ;  it  is 
being  evolved  as  a  slip  which  is  separating  off 
from  the  extensor  muscle  of  the  segment  or 
joint  at  the  base  of  the  thumb.  The  human 
hand  then  has  in  a  recent  state  of  evolution 
undergone  certain  changes,  especially  as 
regards  the  size  and  strength  of  the  thumb, 
but  in  its  essential  design  and  in  the  number 
of  its  parts  it  is  really  a  very  old  structure. 
A  vestige  of  a  former  bone  is  seen  in  the  wrist 
of  man.  Between  the  upper  and  lower  rows 
of  carpal  bones  of  the  wrists  there  is  seen  a 
central  bone  in  the  wrists  of  monkeys.  The 
central  bone  is  also  present  in  the  orang  and 
it  appears  during  the  development  of  the 
human  hand  but  it  soon  disappears.  Traces 
of  it  can  be  frequently  seen.  A  similar  fate 
has  overtaken  this  bone  in  gorillas  and  chim- 
panzees. 

The  long  and  narrow  hand  is  often  regarded 
as  showing  breeding  when  it  occurs  in  man- 
kind ;  we  have  seen  that  the  orang  and  chim- 
panzee have  hands  of  this  nature.  When,  too, 
we  come  to  study  the  lines  of  the  palm — the 
lines  to  which  astrological  names  have  been 
applied  since  ancient  days — ^we  find  that  man 
is  not  peculiar.     When  the  thumb  is  flexed 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  197 

on  the  palm  a  fold  appears  between  the  ball  of 
the  thumb  and  the  rest  of  the  palm  ;  the  crease 
which  marks  the  site  of  the  fold  is  known  as 
the  "  line  of  life."  If  the  thumb  and  little 
finger  are  brought  in  contact,  another  fold 
appears  on  the  centre  of  the  palm  running 
from  the  wrist  towards  the  base  of  the  middle 
finger ;  it  is  the  "  line  of  Fate."  When  the 
fingers  are  flexed  two  folds  appear  across  the 
palm  ;  the  one  nearest  the  base  of  the  fingers 
is  the  "  line  of  the  Heart ;  "  the  further  trans- 
verse line  is  that  of  the  "  Head  ;  "  both  it  will 
be  observed  are  foldings  of  the  skin  of  the 
palm  in  front  of  the  knuckle  joints.  These 
creases  or  lines  in  the  skin  are  exactly  of 
the  same  nature  as  the  folds  which  appear  in 
front  of  the  elbows  and  behind  the  knees 
in  the  sleeves  and  trousers  of  the  seden- 
tary student.  They  indicate  the  manner  in 
which  the  thumb  and  fingers  are  flexed  on 
the  palm.  Palmistry  is  really  a  childish  game 
of  make-believe.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  monkeys  which  we  count  quite  low  in 
the  primate  scale  have  the  "  girdle  of  Venus  " 
— and  well  marked  "  marriage  lines  "  ;  the 
lines  of  our  hands  are  old-time  hieroglyphics. 
Those  on  the  soles  of  our  feet  are  also  inter- 
esting. They  are  arranged  in  a  similar  man- 
ner to  those  of  the  palm,  but  only  vestiges 
of  them  are  left  on  the  human  feet  at  birth 
owing  to  the  great  modification  which 
man's  foot  has  passed  through,  to  make  it 


198  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

suitable  as  an  instrument  of  plantigrade 
progression. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  lines  of  the 
palm  of  the  hand  are  formed  exactly  where 
the  skin  and  tissues  are  folded  when  the 
fingers  are  flexed  and  when  an  object  such  as 
a  cricket  ball  is  grasped.  The  lines  appear 
on  the  palm  of  the  hand  of  the  foetus,  exactly 
right  in  position  and  direction,  before  hand 
movements  have  actually  occurred.  That  is 
a  very  remarkable  fact.  It  could  be  explained 
if  we  suppose  that  such  folds  were  first  pro- 
duced by  use  and  in  course  of  time  such 
adaptations  have  become  inherited.  What 
are  the  means  by  which  such  functional 
characters  become  inherited  ?  The  foetus 
in  which  we  see  those  lines  on  the  palm  has 
already  the  ova  or  spermatozoa  set  aside 
for  another  generation ;  we  cannot  conceive 
a  means  by  which  the  movements  of  the 
hand  can  influence  the  ova  which  are  to  give 
rise  to  the  next  generation  The  manner 
in  which  acquired  characters  become  heredi- 
tary is  a  great  and  unexplained  puzzle.  We 
must  believe,  however,  that  under  certain 
circumstances  "  acquired  "  characters  are  in- 
herited, otherwise  how  shall  we  explain  the 
appearance  of  the  flexion  lines  on  the  palm 
before  the  hand  is  actually  in  use  ? 

If  we  cannot  use  the  lines  of  the  palm  as 
guides  to  the  future  we  can  certainly  establish 
the  identity  of  an  individual  from  the  patterns 


BODILY  INDEXES  OF  CHARACTER  199 

made  by  the  papillae  on  the  finger-tips.  The 
papillse  of  the  palm  and  flexor  surfaces  of  the 
fingers  are  prominent  and  arranged  in  lines 
with  the  furrows  between  the  Hnes.  As  Pro- 
fessor Hepburn  has  shown,  the  papillae  and 
furrows  are  designed  to  give  security  of  grasp. 
On  the  summit  of  each  papilla  opens  the  duct 
of  a  sweat  gland  to  keep  the  skin  moist  and  so 
prevent  objects  from  slipping  from  the  grasp. 
On  the  fleshy  bulbous  end  of  each  digit  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  rows  of  papillae  form 
definite  patterns.  There  are  three  common 
forms  (1)  a  loop,  (2)  an  arch,  (3)  a  spiral  or 
whorl.  Forms  are  also  seen  in  which  these 
three  types  are  more  or  less  combined. 
If  the  reader  will  glance  at  his  fingers,  exam- 
ining the  digits  from  thumb  to  little  finger, 
first  of  the  right  hand,  then  of  the  left, 
examples  of  all  three  forms  will  probably  be 
observed,  but  he  will  not  find  anywhere  in 
the  world  another  individual  who  shows 
these  forms  occurring  in  exactly  the  same 
sequence.  The  patterns  can  be  used  as  let- 
ters of  an  alphabet,  and  any  one  who  has  left 
his  finger  prints  has  left  an  unmistakable 
signature  behind  him.  I  look  on  my  own 
fingers  and  see  that  the  patterns  come  in  the 


following  order  :- 

— 

Fore- 

Middle- 

Rmg- 

Little- 

Thumb. 

finger. 

finger. 

finger. 

finger. 

Bight  Hand     loop. 

arch. 

loop. 

loop. 

loop. 

■Left  Hand       loop. 

arch. 

loop. 

loop. 

loop. 

200  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

On  the  fingers  of  anthropoids  the  whorl  is 
the  predominant  type,  while  in  monkeys  the 
patterns  are  of  an  oval  and  more  primitive 
form. 

On  the  palm  of  the  human  hand  remnants 
of  certain  primitive  patterns  may  be  seen. 
One  of  these  is  situated  on  the  hypo-thenar 
eminence — the  elevation  on  the  palm  opposite 
the  ball  of  the  thumb.  Traces  of  three 
patterns  may  be  found  on  the  palm  at  the 
roots  of  the  fingers.  These  patterns  on  the 
palm  are  traces  of  certain  elevations  or 
pads  which  are  well  seen  in  the  palm  of 
the  monkey's  hand. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

SKIN,    HAIR,    AND   SENSE    ORGANS   OF  THE 
HUMAN   BODY 

The  reader  may  think  that  I  am  grouping 
together  very  dissimilar  structures  in  this 
chapter.  The  eye,  the  ear,  the  nose,  the  hair, 
the  skin,  the  nails,  the  teeth,  sweat,  milk 
and  sebaceous  glands,  although  very  different 
in  appearance  and  function,  have  one  charac- 
ter in  common  ;  all  are  developed  from  the 
covering  or  epidermis  of  the  embryo.  We 
have  been  in  the  habit  from  childhood  of 
thinking  of  the  skin  as  merely  a  covering  or 
clothing  for  the  body.  When,  however,  we 
study  the  skin  or  surface  covering  of  even  the 
lowest  animal  we  find  it  is  triple  in  its 
function  :  it  is  a  covering,  a  sense  organ,  and 
a  gland.  We  have  already  seen  how  a  strip 
of  the  embryonic  covering  is  modified  and 
enclosed  to  form  the  beginning  of  the  spinal 
cord  and  brain.  Along  the  gums  a  fold  of  the 
skin  grows  down  to  provide  the  enamel  crowns 
of  the  teeth.  The  teeth  are  really  incrusta- 
tions formed  round  skin  papillae.  During 
the  fourth  and  fifth  months  sprouts  of  the 

201 


202  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

epithelial  cells  of  the  surface  layer  grow  into 
the  true  skin  and  form  sweat  glands  ;  seba- 
ceous glands  which  are  developed  at  the  roots 
of  hairs  and  supply  a  natural  oil  for  the  hair 
and  skin  are  formed  in  a  similar  manner. 
The  milk  glands  we  have  also  seen  arise  along 
a  ridge  on  the  skin  ;  they  appear  to  have  been 
evolved  out  of  sweat  glands.  On  the  tips 
of  the  digits  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  skin  are 
modified  to  form  nails.  The  inner  ear,  which 
gives  rise  to  a  most  intricate  arrangement  of 
parts  for  the  transformation  of  sound  waves 
into  nerve  impulses  arises  as  a  minute  pocket 
of  skin  which  sinks  into  the  head  until  its 
mouth  on  the  surface  is  closed.  In  some 
fishes  the  opening  persists,  the  fish  retain- 
ing in  adult  life  an  arrangement  which  is  seen 
only  in  the  embryo  of  higher  vertebrate  ani- 
mals. The  olfactory  membrane  also  arises 
as  a  pair  of  skin  pockets,  which  become 
enclosed  by  the  parts  which  form  the  nose. 
Some  of  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  olfactory 
membrane  are  so  constituted  as  to  be  affected 
by  odoriferous  substances  floating  in  the  air. 
In  the  tongue  certain  cells  are  sensitized  for 
taste ;  in  the  skin  others  are  modified  for 
touch.  The  lens  of  the  eye,  which  focuses 
images  on  the  retina,  also  arises  as  an  epithelial 
ingrowth  from  the  skin.  It  is  even  liable 
to  the  horny  or  corneous  change  which  occurs 
in  skin  epithelium  ;  when  the  lens  becomes 
old,  it  often  becomes  corneous  and  opaque. 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  203 

giving  rise  to  the  condition  of  cataract. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  skin  gives  origin 
to  a  most  complex  series  of  structures,  but 
we  must  suppose,  from  the  facts  of  develop- 
ment just  narrated,  that  man  is  the  descendant 
of  a  stock  which  had  a  skin,  simple  in  structure 
but  complex  in  function,  which  served  as  a 
nerve  system,  gland  system,  as  well  as  a  body 
covering. 

The  anthropoid  apes  which  in  all  structural 
features  come  nearest  to  man,  have  their 
bodies  covered  with  hair,  all  except  the  soles 
of  the  feet  and  palms  of  the  hand.  We  notice, 
however,  that  on  the  cheeks  and  forehead  the 
hairs  are  short  and  not  so  apparent.  How 
is  it,  then,  that  man  is  almost  hairless  and 
is  thus  so  different  to  the  anthropoids  ?  We 
infer  that  man  comes  of  a  stock  which  was  as 
hairy  as  the  anthropoids.  Hair  roots  are 
developed  all  over  his  body,  except  on  the 
palms  and  soles.  At  the  seventh  and  eighth 
months  of  fcetal  life  the  body  is  clad  with  a 
fine  downy  covering — the  lanugo.  In  the 
adult,  especially  in  some  individuals,  the 
body  becomes  covered  with  rough  hair.  In 
some  races,  such  as  the  Ainus  of  Japan,  the 
hairy  covering  of  the  body  is  very  apparent. 
In  other  races,  such  as  the  African  negro,  the 
skin  is  almost  hairless.  Occasionally  we  see 
human  freaks  in  which  the  face  and  head, 
or  even  the  whole  body,  becomes  as  thickly 
covered  with  hair  as  a  terrier.     Indeed,  when 


204,  THE  HUMAN  BODY 


we  examine  carefully  the  arrangement  or 
"  lie  "  of  the  hair  on  the  upper  extremities 
of  man  we  see  that  in  the  upper  arm  it  is 
directed  downwards  to  the  elbow  while  on  the 
extensor  surface  of  the  forearm  it  slopes  up 
to  the  elbow.  In  the  upper  extremity  of  the 
anthropoid  apes  the  hair  is  also  arranged  in 
this  manner.  We  cannot  explain  all  these 
facts  unless  we  suppose  that  modern  man  has 
come  of  a  hairy  stock  with  the  hair  arranged 
exactly  as  we  see  it  in  anthropoids.  We 
do  not  as  yet  know  how  the  hairless  condition 
came  about,  but  there  are  several  lines  of 
suggestive  enquiry.  Professor  Elliot  Smith 
has  observed  that  there  is  a  correlation 
between  the  evolution  of  the  human  brain 
and  the  disappearance  of  a  hairy  covering. 
The  brain  is  linked  up  by  sensory  nerves  with 
every  papilla  of  the  skin  :  the  more  nude  and 
thin  the  skin  the  greater  its  sensitiveness  and 
the  greater  the  number  of  messages  sent  to  the 
brain.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  that  the  nude 
condition  of  our  skin  and  the  size  of  our  brain 
are  connected  in  some  way.  We  have  still 
to  explain  why  and  how  the  hair  has  dis- 
appeared. We  have  already  seen  that  many 
points  in  the  structure  of  man  have  been 
evolved  by  a  retention  of  a  foetal  condition. 
Now  foetal  anthropoids  are  hairless  until  the 
third  month  before  birth  ;  if  the  foetal  condi- 
tion then  were  to  be  retained  or  prolonged  a 
hairless  condition  would  result.     The  growth 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  205 

of  the  hair,  too,  is  regulated  by  a  mechanism 
which  we  do  not  know  fully,  but  the  secretion 
of  the  thyroid  has  a  distinct  influence  on  the 
nourishment  of  the  skin  and  the  gro^vth  of 
the  hair.     The  deposition  and  absorption  of 
fat  is  also  influenced  by  thyroid  secretion. 
The  healthy  human  baby  differs  from  that  of 
the  anthropoid  in  being  plump,  owing  to  the 
thick  layer  of  fat  which  lies  beneath  the  skin  ; 
it  is  also  hairless.     The  two  conditions  are 
probably  correlated,  and  the  mechanism  which 
brings  the  change  about  is  probably  a  func- 
tion of  the  thyroid.     We  have  every  reason 
to    suppose   that    civilization — or   rather    an 
ample  command  of  food  all  the  year  round — ■ 
was  acquired  by  man  at  a  much  earlier  period 
in  the  history   of  the  earth  than  we  have 
hitherto  thought.     The  human  foetus  would 
be  much  more  richly  nourished  when  such 
conditions  came  into  existence.     The  glands 
of   internal    secretion,    such   as   the  thyroid, 
would  probably  be  affected.    It  is  possible  then 
that  in  man's  hairless  condition  we  see  one 
of  the  first  effects  of  civilization  on  the  human 
race. 

There  is  also  another  factor  at  work.  In 
our  likes  and  dislikes  we  do  take  the  condition 
of  hair  into  account,  and  in  this  way,  as 
Darwin  pointed  out,  individuals  with  hairless 
bodies,  but  with  rich  heads  of  hair,  may  have 
had  the  preference  in  sexual  choice.  We  have 
already  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  sexual 


206  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

glands  have  a  marked  influence  on  the  growth 
of  hair  which  takes  place  at  puberty. 

The  evolution  of  hair  and  of  nails  hardly 
comes  within  the  compass  of  a  book  dealing 
only  with  the  human  body.  The  hairy  covering 
of  the  body  became  evolved  when  the  mam- 
malian stock  was  emerging  from  a  very  primi- 
tive scale-covered  ancestry.  The  hairs  were 
at  first  produced  under  the  scales,  as  may 
still  be  seen  in  some  low  forms  of  mammals, 
such  as  the  armadillo  and  scaly  ant-eater. 
In  our  bodies  it  may  still  be  observed  that 
the  hair  roots  are  arranged  in  definite  groups 
of  3,  4  or  5,  and  it  is  supposed  that  such  groups 
represent  the  hairs  which  appeared  beneath 
one  scale.  The  evolution  of  our  nails  also 
covers  a  long  period  of  time.  The  claw-like 
nails  of  the  primitive  mammals  first  assumed 
a  flattened  shape  in  the  thumb  and  great  toe 
of  the  earliest  primates.  Whenever  the 
digits  became  truly  grasping  organs  the  .nails 
became  flattened.  In  the  monkeys  of  the 
old  and  new  world  the  nails  are  still  narrow 
and  much  curved  from  side  to  side,  especially 
on  the  little  finger  and  toe.  In  the  great 
anthropoids  they  become  more  human  in 
shape.  Long  and  narrow  nails  in  man, 
much  curved  from  side  to  side,  are  really 
anthropoid  in  character.  Nails  then  are  not 
an  especial  human  feature,  they  were  evi- 
dently evolved  long  before  the  higher  pri- 
mates  broke  up   into  the  present  families. 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  207 

The  little  toe  especially,  and  also  the  corre- 
sponding finger,  often  show  signs  of  retrogres- 
sion. Not  only  are  their  segments  or  phal- 
anges small,  but  the  one  on  which  the  nail 
is  set  may  fail  to  be  separated  from  the  middle 
phalanx.  The  muscles  of  the  fifth  digit  are 
often  diminished  in  size  and  even  one  or  more 
of  them  may  be  reduced  to  a  mere  fibrous 
cord.  The  nail  of  the  fifth  digit  often  reverts 
to  the  claw-like  form  seen  in  the  very  lowest 
primates. 

To  appreciate  certain  features  of  the  organ 
of  taste,  it  is  necessary  to  mention  the  arrange- 
ment of  parts  within  the  mouth  and  throat. 
We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  the  tongue 
as  a  flat  movable  structure  in  the  floor  of  the 
mouth.  When,  however,  special  means  are 
taken  to  study  the  tongue  in  the  living  it  is 
seen  to  be  made  up  of  two  surfaces  or  parts, 
one  situated  in  the  floor  of  the  mouth,  and  a 
posterior  or  deep  part  which  looks  backwards 
into  the  throat  or  pharynx.  The  part  of  the 
tongue  within  the  mouth  is  covered  with 
rough  papillae,  and  is  used  to  move  the  food 
during  mastication.  As  long  as  the  food 
rests  on  this  part  of  the  tongue  we  still  retain 
control  over  it ;  when,  however,  it  passes 
backwards  into  the  throat  and  touches  the 
pharyngeal  part  of  the  tongue,  it  passes  beyond 
our  control  and  we  must  perforce  swallow 
it.  The  front  or  mouth  part  of  the  tongue  we 
may  call  the  voluntary  area ;    the  posterior. 


208  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

deep  or  pharyngeal  part  the  involuntary. 
Now  at  the  line  where  these  two  areas  of 
the  tongue  meet  there  is  set  a  row  of  special 
papillae.  On  these  papillae  certain  groups  of 
cells  (taste  buds)  are  placed,  and  are  linked 
up  with  the  ninth  cranial  or  gustatory  nerve. 
When  food  comes  in  contact  with  these 
papillae  we  experience  the  full  sensation  of 
taste.  Before  it  can  really  come  in  complete 
contact  with  the  papillae  the  food  has  to  cross 
the  border  between  the  voluntary  and  involun- 
tary parts  of  the  tongue  where  the  taste 
papillae  are  set.  You  see  how  cunningly  na- 
ture can  set  a  trap ;  she  neither  permits 
you  to  waste  food  nor  to  neglect  the  needs 
of  the  body ;  you  have  to  swallow  food  and 
thus  supply  the  needs  of  the  body  before  the 
taste  can  be  really  enjoyed.  In  this  respect 
we  are  in  the  same  position  as  other  mammals. 
The  manner  in  which  the  olfactory  sense 
organ  is  developed  has  been  already  alluded 
to.  Mention  was  also  made  on  a  former 
page  (26)  of  the  fact  that  the  olfactory  nerves 
were  the  only  ones  connected  with  the  cerebral 
hemispheres,  and  that  there  is  every  reason 
for  supposing  that  those  great  masses  of 
nerve  tissue  which  constitute  the  main  mass 
of  the  human  brain  originally  arose  in  con- 
nexion with  the  sense  of  smell.  In  mam- 
mals generally  every  one  has  observed  that 
the  nose  is  the  dominant  sense  organ.  It  is 
plain  that  a  dog's  highest  mental  joys  are 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  209 

smell  memories.  In  the  higher  primates, 
especially  in  the  civilized  races  of  mankind, 
the  sense  of  smell  has  fallen  into  a  minor  place 
among  our  special  senses.  We  have  no  words 
to  express  our  sensations  of  smell,  and  yet 
many  of  our  most  realistic  memories  of  child- 
hood are  often  associated  with  some  impression 
which  reached  us  first  through  the  nose.  The 
olfactory  sense  cells  are  situated  only  in  the 
roof  and  upper  part  of  the  nasal  cavities  ;  we 
must  sniff  in  order  that  the  air  inspired  may 
come  in  contact  with  the  sensory  membrane. 

In  the  human  nose  there  still  remains  a 
trace  of  a  peculiar  outpost  of  the  organ  of 
smell.  In  herbivorous  animals,  like  the  sheep 
or  ox,  it  is  manifestly  advantageous  that  the 
odour  of  each  mouthful  of  grass  should  pass 
into  the  nose  so  as  to  give  warning  when  a 
noxious  plant  has  entered.  Two  openings 
on  the  roof  of  the  mouth — the  naso -palatine — 
are  situated  on  the  palate,  just  behind  the 
upper  gum.  Above  the  openings,  on  each 
side  of  the  septum  of  the  nose,  is  placed  a 
scroll  of  cartilage  containing  a  detached  part 
of  the  olfactory  mucous  membrane — a  minute 
or  secondary  nose  to  sample  the  odours 
which  escape  into  the  nose  from  each  mouth- 
ful of  food.  This  little  nose  is  named  the 
organ  of  Jacobson,  after  the  anatomist  who 
discovered  it.  These  openings  on  the  roof 
of  man's  mouth  are  now  closed,  but  they  are 
clearly  represented  bj'"  vestiges,  and  so  are  the 


210  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

scrolls  of  cartilage  and  the  detached  piece  of 
olfactory  membrane.  In  the  anthropoids  the 
organ  is  also  vestigial.  How  are  we  to 
explain  these  things  ? 

It  would  take  us  too  far  afield  to  describe 
the  structure  and  mechanism  of  the  organ 
of  hearing.  The  manner  in  which  the  inner 
ear  arises  as  a  sac  has  been  mentioned,  but 
nothing  was  then  said  of  the  very  important 
fact  that  in  its  beginning  the  inner  ear  was 
double  in  function.  It  not  only  served  as  an 
organ  of  hearing,  but  also  as  one  of  balancing. 
This  double  function  it  has  retained  in  all 
vertebrates  and  a  very  beautiful  mechanism 
— consisting  of  three  semi-circular  canals- 
is  attached  to  the  inner  ear,  which  informs  the 
brain  of  the  movements  and  position  of  the 
head  and  body.  When  these  canals  are 
destroyed  by  disease  we  lose  the  power  of 
balancing  our  bodies  when  we  move. 

At  the  end  of  the  ear  passage  is  set  a 
membranous  drum  which  vibrates  with  the 
waves  of  sound.  The  waves  are  conveyed 
to  the  inner  ear  by  three  small  bones — ^the 
hammer,  the  anvil  and  the  stirrup.  The 
history  of  these  bones  is  strange.  The 
hammer  was  at  an  early  stage  of  the  evolution 
of  mammals  a  part  of  the  lower  jaw ;  the 
anvil  was  the  bone  on  the  base  of  the  skull 
with  which  it  articulated.  When  mastication 
and  molar  teeth  v/ere  evolved  in  the  ancestry 
of  mammals  a  new  joint  was  formed  in  the 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  211 

lower  jaw,  and  these  two  bones — the  hammer 
and  anvil — were  taken  into  the  service  of  the 
ear. 

All  these  things  sound  too  much  like  a 
romance.  Yet  what  will  the  reader  think  when 
he  comes  to  consider  the  human  eye  ?  Not 
that  the  human  eye  is  peculiar ;  it  is  made 
of  the  same  parts  as  that  of  the  fish  ;  it  is 
the  human  brain  which  makes  the  human 
eye  a  source  of  joy  and  knowledge.  We  may 
marvel  over  the  evolutions  of  the  sense  of 
sight  and  explain  it  as  best  we  may ;  as 
regards  the  facts  of  its  development  in  the 
embryo  they  are  comparatively  simple. 
Three  different  elements  come  into  con- 
junction to  form  it.  First  there  is  the  dipping 
down  beneath  the  skin  of  a  bud  of  epidermis  to 
form  the  lens.  When  the  bud  of  epithelium 
sinks  inwards  to  form  the  lens  the  skin  closes 
over  the  point  of  subsidence  and  becomes 
transparent,  thus  forming  the  cornea  of  the  eye. 
The  second  element  to  form  the  eye  grows 
out  from  the  nerve  tube  or  brain  of  the 
embryo.  The  outgrowth  forms  a  cup  round 
the  lens  bud;  the  cup  itself  becomes  the 
retina  and  the  stalk  of  the  cup  is  trans- 
formed into  the  optic  nerve.  The  third 
element  is  derived  from  the  surrounding 
tissue  of  the  head — the  mesoblast.  The  cells 
of  the  mesoblast  swarm  within  the  cup  and 
round  the  lens  and  form  the  transparent  jelly 
within  the  eyeball.     The  outer  coats  of  the 


212  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

eye,  which  enclose  and  protect  the  retina, 
also  arise  from  the  mesoblast. 

It  may  seem  to  the  reader  that  the  short 
account  which  has  been  given  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  eye  only  makes  its  evolution  more 
marvellous  and  mysterious.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  we  are  witness- 
ing the  result  of  a  process  which  has  been 
at  work  for  millions  of  years.  Indeed,  since 
ever  life  appeared  on  the  globe,  and  that  is 
longer  ago  than  the  human  mind  can  conceive, 
the  processes  have  been  at  work  which  have 
ended  in  the  compounding  of  an  eye.  It  is 
an  instrument  which  can  focus  the  outer 
world  and  is  attached  to  a  brain  which  can 
partly  understand  that  image.  Yet  with 
all  its  complexity  the  eye  is  but  a  triple 
compound  of  skin,  brain  and  intervening 
tissue.  One  cannot  expect  the  anatomist  to 
unravel  in  a  few  years  that  which  has  taken 
the  lifetime  of  a  world  to  evolve. 

We  need  not  stop  here  to  note  the  fact  that 
the  human  eyes  are  set  in  the  face  so  as  to 
take  in  a  common  field  of  vision.  That  is 
not  a  peculiar  human  trait ;  binocular  vision 
is  common  to  the  higher  primates.  Nor  need 
we  dilate  on  the  remnant  of  a  third  eyelid  or 
nicitating  membrane  which  can  be  seen  as 
a  thin  fold  between  the  eyeball  and  the  red 
caruncula  at  the  inner  angle  of  the  eye. 
Evidently  in  the  human  ancestry  a  functional 
third  eyelid  had  been  present,  such  as  can  be 


SKIN,  HAIR,  AND  SENSE  ORGANS  213 

seen  in  the  eye  of  the  cat.  But  allusion 
must  be  made  to  a  very  remarkable  vestige 
of  another  eye  now  completely  buried  beneath 
the  great  mass  of  our  brain.  Mention  has 
been  made  of  a  bridge  of  tissue — the  corpus 
callosum — which  unites  the  two  cerebral 
hemispheres.  Underneath  its  posterior  end 
is  a  small  body  no  larger  than  a  barley  or 
wheat  grain,  known  as  the  pineal  gland. 
Connected  with  this  vestigial  body  are 
remnants  of  optic  nerves  and  optic  ganglia. 
One  has  to  go  down  the  animal  scale  to  the 
most  primitive  form  of  lizard — Sphenodon — 
to  see  this  body  assume  the  shape  of  an  eye. 
It  is  median,  single,  and  looks  out  from  the 
crown  of  the  head,  and  even  in  the  lizard  is  a 
remnant  of  a  visual  sense  we  have  not 
discovered  so  far  in  its  original  condition. 
Yet  there  sometimes  occurs  in  the  roof  of  the 
human  skull  a  foramen  or  opening  exactly 
in  the  position  which  the  pineal  eye  occupies 
in  lizards.  The  place  is  always  marked  by 
two  small  openings  for  veins,  and  the  venous 
blood  channel,  which  sweeps  backwards  in 
the  roof  of  the  skull,  often  widens  at  the  spot, 
and  sometimes  actually  divides,  leaving  room 
as  it  were,  for  the  appearance  of  a  pineal  eye 
— which,  however,  never  comes  to  the  surface. 
Quite  recently  Professor  Dendy  has 
described  the  remnant  of  a  curious  organ 
in  the  brain  of  man  which  may  have  been 
connected  with  some  peculiar  form  of  sense 


214  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

organ.  For  a  long  time  it  has  been  known 
that  certain  large  fibres  occur  in  the 
central  canal  of  the  spinal  cord  of  fishes. 
Their  function  is  unknown.  They  begin  in 
a  patch  of  epithelium  situated  in  the 
roof  of  the  canal  of  the  stem  of  the  brain. 
Professor  Dendy  found  that  traces  of  these 
occurred  even  in  mammals.  He  found  the 
epithelial  organ  from  which  these  peculiar 
fibres  arise  in  the  canal  of  the  brain  stem  of 
primates.  Ultimately  he  discovered  traces 
of  this  epithelial  organ  in  the  brain  of  the 
chimpanzee  and  of  man.  We  have  here  a 
fine  example  of  the  persistence  of  an  organ 
which,  in  the  higher  vertebrates,  is  apparently 
quite  vestigial  in  nature. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   MECHANISM   OF  THE  BODY 

It  is  refreshing  in  these  Darwinian  days 
to  open  a  book  on  anatomy  which  became 
popular  in  England  rather  more  than  a 
century  ago.  The  book  was  written  by 
Archdeacon  Paley,  and  entitled  "  Natural 
Theology,"  the  mechanism  of  the  human 
body  being  one  of  the  chief  subjects 
of  discourse.  The  Archdeacon  had  studied 
anatomy  in  London  to  excellent  purpose 
under  William  Hunter — John  Hunter's  eldest 
brother — one  of  the  best  anatomists  at  the 
latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
Archdeacon  expressed  in  clear  and  simple 
language  the  views  which  the  anatomists 
of  his  time  held  of  the  human  body.  To  them, 
it  was  a  machine  of  superlative  construction, 
the  final  work  of  a  power  which  had  created 
all  things.  How  far  the  anatomists  of 
to-day  have  departed  from  the  Archdeacon's 
point  of  view  may  be  seen  from  the  preceding 
chapters.  We  have  in  later  days  neglected 
the  study  of  the  mechanism  of  the  human 
body.     Modern  anatomists  look  on  it  as  an 

213 


216  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

anonymous  missive  which  has  come  to  them 
through  the  post  of  Time,  stamped  with 
certain  marks  from  which  they  try  to  interpret 
— and  with  some  success — something  of  the 
whence  and  how  it  has  come.  With  the  best 
of  intentions  the  writer  has  been  unable  to 
break  away  from  the  detective's  outlook ; 
with  each  new  chapter  he  hoped  to  leave 
evolution  behind  him  and  study  the  cunning 
mechanism  of  the  human  body  without  a 
mention  of  creation  or  evolution.  How  far 
that  can  be  done  the  present  chapter  will 
show. 

The  manner  in  which  the  head  is  jointed  to 
the  body  is  an  example  of  an  effective  and 
most  delicate  mechanism  worked  out  under 
circumstances  of  peculiar  difficulty.  The 
head,  like  the  telescope,  is  so  jointed  that  the 
eyes  can  sweep  the  horizon  from  east  to  west 
by  a  turning  movement,  and  scan  the  heavens 
from  base  to  zenith  by  a  nodding  or  extensory 
one.  In  the  very  centre  of  the  movement  is 
placed  the  most  vital  structure  in  the  body — 
the  lower  end  of  the  stem  of  the  brain,  which 
issues  from  the  skull  by  the  foramen  magnum 
to  pass  into  the  canal  of  the  backbone  as  the 
spinal  cord.  We  can  flex  and  extend  the 
head,  rotate  it  from  side  to  side,  and  yet  the 
"  silver  cord  "  is  never  in  the  slightest  degree 
injured.  When  we  examine  the  anatomy 
of  the  parts  we  see  that  the  nodding  move- 
ments occur  between  the  skull  and  the  first 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     217 

vertebra  or  atlas,  and  that  the  rotating 
movement  takes  place  between  the  atlas  and 
the  second  vertebra  or  axis.  This  elaborate 
mechanism,  which  can  be  employed  at  all  times 
with  the  utmost  surety  and  safety,  has  been 
accomplished  by  a  simple  modification  of  the 
first  vertebra.  Like  all  other  vertebrae  the 
atlas  was  originally  made  up  of  three  parts 
— a  body,  which  forms  the  solid  front  w^all  of 
the  canal  for  the  spinal  cord,  an  arch  which 
encloses  the  canal  at  the  sides  and  at  the 
back,  and  a  third  minor  element — the  front 
bar.  The  body  of  the  atlas  or  first  vertebra 
of  the  neck  has  been  transferred  from  its 
proper  position  to  become  fixed  as  a  pivot- 
like process  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
second  vertebra  or  axis.  The  arch  of  the 
atlas  having  no  longer  a  body  to  make  up  its 
anterior  deficiency  unites  w4th  the  third  or 
minor  element — the  front  bar.  The  atlas 
thus  appears  ring-shaped ;  the  pivot-like 
process  of  the  axis  lies  within  the  front  part 
of  the  ring.  When  the  head  is  rotated  so 
that  the  face  is  turned  from  side  to  side,  the 
atlas,  which  supports  the  head,  moves  round 
the  pivot  which  has  been  shaped  from  its  own 
body.  When,  however,  the  head  is  rotated 
thirty  degrees  to  one  side  or  to  the  other,  the 
movement  is  suddenly  checked  by  special 
ligaments.  Were  the  ligaments  or  bands  of 
fibrous  tissue  not  present,  then  the  rotation 
might  be  continued  until  the  arch  of  the  atlas 


218  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

was  carried  against  the  spinal  cord ;  indeed, 
in  the  dead  body  when  the  Hgaments  and 
muscles  are  divided,  it  is  possible  to  rotate  the 
head  until  the  cord  is  completely  crushed  by 
the  rotating  arch  of  the  atlas.  Yet  the  writer 
knows  of  no  case  where  death  has  been  caused 
by  a  forcible  movement  of  the  kind  just 
described. 

While  the  joint  between  the  atlas  and  axis 
is  a  perfect  example  of  a  "  pivot- joint " 
that  between  the  atlas  and  the  skull, 
where  nodding  movements  occur,  represents 
a  modified  form  of  another  type  of  joint — 
the  "  ball  and  socket."  The  hip- joint,  where 
the  semispherical  head  of  the  thigh-bone  fits 
within  the  cup  formed  on  the  pelvis  by  the 
"  acetabulum,"  is  the  most  perfect  example 
of  a  ball  and  socket  joint  in  the  human  body. 
In  order  to  allow  the  stem  of  the  brain  to 
emerge  at  the  foramen  magnum,  the  central 
parts  of  both  "  ball  "  and  "  cup  "  have  been 
cut  away.  If  the  ball  were  perfect  it  would 
be  placed  over  the  foramen  magnum  and  the 
cup  within  the  arch  of  the  atlas.  Only  a 
minor  part  of  the  ball  has  been  left  on  each  side 
of  the  anterior  end  of  the  foramen  magnum, 
and  all  that  is  left  of  the  cup  are  two  corre- 
sponding sockets  placed  on  the  upper  surface 
of  the  atlas.  The  centre  of  the  joint  is  the 
position  of  least  movement,  and  is  occupied 
by  the  commencement  of  the  spinal  cord. 
The  movements  are  limited  and  checked  by 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     219 

ligaments  and  muscles  so  that  in  the  most 
extreme  movements  of  the  head  the  vital 
nerve  centres  are  not  endangered.  One 
marvels  at  the  simplicity  of  the  elements  out 
of  which  the  most  complex  and  delicate 
mechanisms  are  formed.  By  transferring 
the  body  of  the  first  to  the  second  vertebra 
and  by  a  simple  modification  of  the  joint 
between  the  first  vertebra  and  the  skull  a 
mechanism  has  been  secured  which  gives 
mobility  to  the  head  and  safety  to  the  nerve 
cord. 

The  various  orders  of  levers  might  be 
studied  at  the  joint  between  the  head  and 
body.  The  head  is  a  lever  of  the  first  order ; 
the  atlas  is  the  fulcrum  which  supports  the 
lever.  When  the  head  is  bent  backwards, 
the  power  is  represented  by  the  muscles  of 
the  nape  of  the  neck  ;  the  weight  lifted  is 
the  front  part  of  the  head.  The  various 
kinds  of  levers,  however,  are  better  exemplified 
in  the  limbs,  as  well  perhaps  at  the  elbow 
joint  as  anywhere.  We  shall  consider  the 
forearm  as  a  lever.  If  a  weight  be  placed  on 
the  upturned  palm  and  the  forearm  bent  on 
the  upper  arm  or  brachium  we  see  a  lever  of 
the  third  order.  The  elbow  joint  is  the 
fulcrum ;  the  power,  represented  by  the 
biceps  and  anterior  brachial  muscle,  is  applied 
to  the  lever  between  the  fulcrum  (elbow  joint) 
and  the  weight  (hand),  but  much  nearer  the 
fulcrum    than    the    weight.     Power    is    thus 


220  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

lost,  but  speed  is  gained.  It  is  apparent  that 
the  shorter  the  forearm  or  lever  then  the 
greater  will  be  the  purchase.  Now  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  man  differs  from  the 
anthropoid  apes  in  having  a  comparatively 
short  and  therefore  powerful  forearm.  It  is 
shorter  in  European  than  in  African  races. 
The  gibbon  is  noted  for  the  length  of  its 
forearm.  If  we  watch  the  anthropoids  using 
their  arms  in  progression  on  the  trees  we  at 
once  realize  the  significance  of  their  long 
and  of  our  short  forearm.  The  anthropoid 
seizes  the  branch  with  its  hand  and  then  draws 
upwards  the  weight  of  the  body  by  flexing  the 
arm  at  the  elbow  joint.  The  moving  lever  is 
not  the  forearm  ;  it  is  the  brachium  or  upper 
arm.  We  are  still  dealing  with  a  lever  of  the 
third  order  ;  the  fulcrum  is  still  placed  at  the 
elbow  joint ;  the  power  is  furnished  by  the 
biceps  and  anterior  brachial  muscle,  but  is 
applied  to  the  brachium,  which  is  the  moving 
lever,  at  some  distance  from  the  fulcrum,  thus 
increasing  power  obtained.  The  weight  is 
represented  not  by  an  object  placed  in  the  hand 
but  by  the  whole  body  of  the  animal  which  is 
attached  to  the  arm  or  lever  at  the  shoulder 
joint.  In  the  climbing  anthropoid  the  upper 
arm  is  short  and  forms  a  powerful  movable 
lever ;  in  working  man,  the  forearm  is  the 
movable  lever,  and  therefore,  compared  to 
the  brachium,  is  short  and  powerful.  We 
see    that    the    short    forearm    of    man    and 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     221 

the  long  one  of  anthropoids  are  functional 
modifications. 

Having  thus  illustrated  the  first  order  of 
levers  at  the  head,  the  third  order  at  the  elbow, 
we  can  see  an  excellent  example  of  the  second 
order  at  the  ankle  joint.  In  this  case  the  foot 
is  the  lever,  and  we  shall  consider  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  foot  and  leg  in  walking.  A  step 
forwards  has  been  taken  by  the  left  and  the 
heel  of  the  right  foot  is  being  raised  to  propel 
the  body  forwards.  The  pad  of  the  foot  and 
balls  of  the  toes  represent  the  fulcrum  of  the 
right  foot ;  the  power  is  applied  to  the  rising 
heel  by  the  muscles  of  the  calf  of  the  leg. 
The  weight  of  the  body  falls  on  the  foot  at  the 
ankle  joint  between  the  fulcrum  at  the  toes 
and  the  power  at  the  heel,  but  much  nearer 
the  power  than  the  fulcrum.  The  nearer  the 
weight  is  to  the  power,  or  putting  the  matter 
more  brieflv — the  shorter  the  heel,  the  smaller 
is  the  piu'chase  and  the  greater  the  muscle 
power  required.  Hence  the  races  with  short 
feet,  high  insteps  and  steeply  set  heels,  have 
large  calves.  The  foot,  however,  is  a  peculiar 
kind  of  lever  ;  it  is  arched  with  the  weight 
falling  on  the  keystone  of  the  arch.  If  the 
foot  is  long  and  slender,  and  especially  if 
the  weight  falls  near  the  centre  of  the  arch, 
the  more  likely  is  the  arch  to  break  down. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  collapse  of  the 
arch  of  the  foot  is  due  to  a  giving  way  of  the 
ligaments  which  bind  the  bones  of  the  arch 


222  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

together.  Those  who  hold  this  view  of 
"  flatfoot  "  overlook  a  very  important  function 
of  muscles  and  the  true  nature  of  ligaments. 
Our  bones  are  really  not  bound  and  kept 
together  at  joints  by  passive  fibrous  ligaments. 
There  is  only  one  joint  in  the  body  where  this 
is  the  case,  and  that  is  at  the  knee  joint.  As 
we  take  a  step  forward  we  bend  the  knee,  the 
bones  being  then  held  in  apposition  by  the 
active  muscles  which  end  round  the  knee ; 
then  as  we  bring  the  weight  of  the  body  upon 
the  outstretched  leg  the  knee  is  straightened 
out,  the  ligaments  becoming  tight  and  pressing 
the  bones  together,  thus  securing  the  joint  as 
it  supports  the  weight  of  the  body.  At  the 
very  end  of  the  movement  the  lower  end  of 
the  thigh-bone  undergoes  a  peculiar  rotation 
inward  and  backward  which  locks  the  joint 
and  secures  it  more  firmly.  At  all  other  joints 
muscles  keep  the  bones  in  apposition  except 
when  the  movements  become  forced  or 
extreme  ;  it  is  only  in  these  extreme  move- 
ments that  the  ligaments  take  a  part  in 
limiting  the  action  and  securing  the  joint. 
This  is  also  the  case  with  the  ligaments  of  the 
arch  of  the  foot.  When  we  stand,  the  arch 
is  maintained  by  the  steady  and  continuous 
action  of  muscles.  Some  of  these  pass  along 
the  sole  of  the  foot  from  heel  to  toes,  and  act 
like  the  tense  string  of  a  bow,  but  the  chief 
supporting  muscles  are  situated  in  the  leg, 
and  sustain  the  arch  of  the  foot  by  means  of 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     223 

long  tendons.  Every  one  knows  how  tiresome 
a  thing  it  is  to  stand  still ;  it  fatigues  infinitely 
more  than  walking,  because  in  standing  these 
muscles  of  the  sole  are  continuously  in  action, 
whereas  in  walking  they  have  alternate  phases 
of  action  and  rest. 

Few  people  realize  how  complex  is  the  act 
of  standing  and  the  great  num-ber  of  joints 
and  muscles  which  are  involved.  Not  a 
muscle  of  the  foot  is  asleep  then,  all  are  in 
action  binding  the  various  parts  of  the  foot 
together  to  form  a  solid  supporting  base  for 
the  upright  body.  A  dead  man,  however 
stark  death  may  have  rendered  the  trunk, 
cannot  be  maintained  upright  without  support. 
Even  a  statue  needs  to  have  its  feet  firmly 
bolted  to  the  pedestal.  In  the  living  standing 
man  all  the  muscles  of  the  leg  are  in  quivering 
action,  balancing  and  stiffening  the  legs  on 
the  feet.  All  the  time  messages  are  passing 
from  the  muscles  to  the  centres  in  the  spinal 
cord,  from  which  other  messages  are  being 
issued  to  regulate  and  co-ordinate  the  muscles 
in  their  action.  The  knees  may  be  locked 
by  the  mechanism  just  mentioned  when  we 
stand  at  "  attention,"  but  most  of  us  prefer 
to  stand  with  the  knees  slightly  bent,  with  the 
knee-caps  loose,  and  the  muscles  behind 
the  knees  in  action,  keeping  the  joint  stiff. 
Every  schoolboy  knows  how  the  standing 
posture  may  be  upset  by  catching  the  knee- 
cap muscles  off  their  guard  by  a  blow  delivered 


224  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

behind  the  joint.  At  the  hip  joint  there  is 
also  a  mechanism  which  saves  muscular  effort. 
In  the  front  of  the  joint  there  is  an  extremely 
strong  ligament  (ilio-femoral)  ;  when  we 
stand  at  attention  we  over-extend  the  body 
at  the  hip- joint,  and  this  strong  ligament  in 
front  of  the  joint  becomes  tense,  supports 
the  body,  and  thus  saves  the  muscles.  The 
spinal  column  is  not  stable  by  itself.  It  rests 
on  the  sacrum  of  the  pelvis,  the  pelvic  basin 
in  turn  resting  on  the  thighs  at  the  hip- joints. 
The  vertebrae  of  the  backbone — five  in  the 
loins,  twelve  in  the  dorsal  region,  seven  in  the 
neck,  making  twenty-four  in  all — are  balanced 
one  upon  the  other  and  maintained  erect  by 
the  exceeding  complex  musculature  of  the 
back.  The  twelve  pairs  of  ribs,  besides 
serving  the  purposes  of  respiration,  also  act 
as  levers  for  the  backbone.  The  great  sheets 
of  muscles  in  the  wall  of  the  abdomen  and 
thorax,  which  come  into  action  and  support 
the  viscera  when  we  stand  up,  at  the  same 
time  act  on  the  ribs  and  through  them  balance 
the  spine  and  trunk.  Then  the  head  is  balanced 
on  the  spine  by  the  muscles  of  the  neck  ; 
every  one  notices  how  the  balance  of  the  head 
is  lost  as  the  seated  sleeper  nods.  The 
shoulders,  too,  have  to  be  kept  up  by  the 
muscles  ;  the  great  muscular  sheet  (trapezius) 
which  descends  from  the  head  and  neck  to  the 
prominence  of  each  shoulder,  is  in  action  every 
minute  we  are  in  the  upright  posture.     In 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     225 

time  an  aching  feeling  of  fatigue  may  settle  on 
the  shoulder  when  the  contracting  power  of  the 
muscles  is  exhausted.  Thus  standing  is  an 
exceedingly  complex  act,  which  involves  the 
majority  of  the  muscles  of  the  body.  All 
the  muscles  involved  are  regulated  and 
co-ordinated  unconsciously  by  a  silently 
working  but  elaborate  reflex  nervous  system. 
One  of  the  most  marvellous  adaptations  of 
our  bodies  is  the  manner  in  which  bones 
are  built  to  meet  the  strain  and  stress 
to  which  the  skeleton  is  exposed  during  life. 
The  material  of  the  bones  is  so  arranged  that 
the  greatest  strength  is  obtained  at  a  minimum 
expenditure  of  building  material.  The  skele- 
ton is  not  a  dead  inert  framework  in  the  living 
body ;  although  it  is  chiefly  composed  of 
calcium  salts  yet  we  have  good  reason  to 
suppose  that  every  particle  of  a  bone  is  alive. 
When  from  illness  or  idleness  the  bones  are 
not  exposed  to  strain  or  stress,  they  atrophy  ; 
their  tissue  is  partly  removed  and  the  living 
cells  or  osteoblasts  which  permeate  every 
part  of  a  bone  are  lessened  in  their  building 
activity  ;  absorption  of  old  bone  takes  place 
at  a  greater  rate  than  deposition  of  new  bone. 
In  men  who  are  living  active  lives  and  taking 
vigorous  exercise  and  have  not  passed  the 
prime  of  life  the  opposite  is  true  ;  deposition 
or  gro\N'th  exceeds  absorption  in  rate.  The 
cells  of  the  bone  are  sensitive  to  the  forces 
which  are  brought  to  bear  on  them.     This  is 


226  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

very  well  seen  when  the  bones  of  the  arch  of 
the  foot  are  laid  open  by  a  vertical  section 
which  passes  from  heel  to  toes.  In  the  heel 
bone  which  forms  the  posterior  pillar  of  the 
supporting  arch,  the  building  cells  or  osteo- 
blasts have  laid  the  bone  down  in  long  needles 
running  in  the  direction  of  the  transmitted 
weight — ^from  the  base  of  the  heel  upwards 
and  forwards  to  the  ankle  joint.  These 
supporting  needles  are  bound  together  by  fine 
transverse  plates,  the  whole  system  of  the  heel 
bone  being  enclosed  within  a  thin  shell.  In  the 
front  pillar  of  the  arch  of  the  foot,  the  needles 
of  bone  are  arranged  so  that  their  direction  is 
from  the  bones  of  the  toes  backwards  and 
upwards  to  the  ankle.  The  systems  of  the 
front  and  back  pillars  of  the  foot  meet  and 
cross  in  the  keystone  of  the  arch — the  astra- 
galus or  ankle  bone. 

In  the  upper  extremity  of  the  thigh-bone 
there  is  a  more  complex  system.  The  neck 
of  the  femur  serves  as  a  bracket  to  fix  the 
head  of  the  thigh-bone  to  its  shaft.  When 
we  stand  on  one  leg  the  whole  weight  of  the 
body  is  transmitted  by  the  neck  of  the  thigh- 
bone. When  the  neck  is  laid  open  it  is  seen 
that  the  osteoblasts  have  laid  the  bone  down, 
and  are  maintaining  it  in  two  main  systems. 
One  of  these — ^the  supporting  system — passes 
down  frorn  the  head  of  the  thigh-bone  to  join 
the  system  of  the  shaft ;  the  other  system 
forms  a  tie  series  passing  outwards  trans- 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     227 

versely  from  the  head  to  the  upper  end  of  the 
shaft.  The  bone  systems  thus  described  in 
the  neck  of  the  thigh-bone  correspond  to  the 
obhque  and  horizontal  rods  seen  in  the 
brackets  of  old-fashioned  street  lamps.  If, 
however,  a  fracture  of  the  femur  occurs  and 
the  lines  of  force  or  of  support  are  altered  then 
the  osteoblast  will  meet  the  new  conditions  by 
rearranging  the  system  of  bone  trabeculae  or 
needles. 

It  is  only  in  short  bones  or  at  the  extremities 
of  long  bones  that  the  osteoblasts  lay  their 
material  down  in  specially  arranged  needles, 
plates  or  spongy  patterns.  In  the  shafts  of 
long  bones  the  material  forms  a  hollow 
cylinder  wdth  dense  walls.  Engineers  are 
well  aw^are  that  the  strongest  support  is 
obtained  with  the  least  expenditure  of  material 
by  using  hollow  cylindrical  pillars. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  wonderful  mechanisms 
of  the  human  body  ;  many  chapters  would 
be  required  to  deal  with  them  exhaustively. 
Some  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  are  seen 
in  connexion  with  the  heart  and  lungs,  but 
we  will  put  these  aside  and  merely  mention 
one  which  excited  the  admiration  of  Arch- 
deacon Paley.  "  It  has  been  said,"  he  writes, 
"  that  whenever  nature  attempts  to  work  two 
or  more  purposes  by  one  instrument  she  does 
both  or  all  imperfectly.  Is  this  true  of  the 
tongue  regarded  as  an  instrument  of  speech, 
and  taste  and  deglutition  ?  So  much  other-svise 


228  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

that  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  persons 
out  of  a  thousand,  by  the  instrumentaHty 
of  their  one  organ,  talk,  taste  and  swallow 
very  well.  .  .  .  There  are  brought  together 
within  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  more  distinct 
uses  of  parts  executing  more  distinct  offices 
than  I  think  can  be  found  lying  so  near  to 
one  another,  or  within  the  same  compass  in 
any  other  portion  of  the  body."  That  is  true, 
and  during  the  century  which  has  elapsed 
since  his  words  were  written  we  have  become 
aware  that  the  mechanism  of  mastication,  of 
speech  and  of  swallowing  is  more  complicated 
than  even  Archdeacon  Paley  supposed.  Dur- 
ing mastication  the  mandible  undergoes  an 
extremely  complex  series  of  movements,  which 
are  regulated  and  controlled  at  each  phase  by 
a  special  system  of  muscles  and  nerves.  The 
carpet  of  glands  spread  everywhere  beneath 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth,  lips  and 
tongue,  is  reflexly  called  into  action  by 
another  nerve  mechanism  and  throws  out  a 
lubricating  secretion  which  moistens  the  lips, 
cheeks  and  gums.  The  three  pairs  of  salivary 
glands  situated  in  the  cheek  (parotid)  and  under 
the  jaw  (submaxillary),  and  under  the  tongue 
(sublingual)  are  stimulated  by  another  system 
of  nerves  to  pour  their  secretions  into  the 
mouth.  At  meal  times  neither  speech  nor 
respiration  need  be  interrupted. 

The  mechanism  of  the  throat  or  pharynx 
is  also  complex.     A  bolus  of  food,  when  it 


MECHANISM  OF  THE  BODY     229 

has  been  passed  from  the  mouth  to  the 
pharynx  in  the  first  stage  of  swallowing,  finds 
four  passages  open  for  its  further  progress.  It 
may  return  to  the  mouth,  it  may  pass  into  the 
naso-pharynx  and  nose  :  it  may  pass  into  the 
larynx  or  windpipe.  These  three  entrances 
or  passages  to  the  pharynx  are  kept  open  except 
during  the  act  of  swallowinof.  There  is  a 
fourth  passage  or  opening  leading  to  the 
oesophagus  which  is  always  closed  except 
when  pushed  open  by  a  bolus  of  food  or 
mouthful  of  fluid.  Before  the  bolus  of  food 
which  has  just  reached  the  pharynx  can  be 
seized  by  the  muscular  wall  of  that  cavity 
and  propelled  onwards,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  passages  to  the  mouth,  nose,  and  larynx  be 
shut  and  the  opening  to  the  oesophagus  relaxed 
or  open.  An  elaborate  system  of  muscles, 
under  the  control  of  an  automatic  nerve 
mechanism,  accomplishes  all  these  things  with 
every  mouthful  we  swallow.  Swallowing 
seems  such  an  easy  and  automatic  act  that 
we  are  quite  unaware  of  the  elaborate  system 
of  signals,  side  shunts  and  level-crossings  which 
have  to  be  manipulated  to  permit  the  busy 
traffic  of  the  pharynx  to  pass  unchecked.  A 
bolus  of  food  in  the  pharynx  brings  reflexly 
all  of  these  into  action,  but  there  are  occasions 
when  their  efficiency  is  disturbed  by  an  urgent 
and  unexpected  message  from  the  larynx  or 
the  nose.  In  other  words,  a  morsel  of  food 
in  the  windpipe  which  has  passed  the  sentry 


230  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

at  the  larynx  at  an  absent  minute  calls  other 
muscles  into  play  and  upsets  the  normal 
mechanism  of  swallowing.  The  movements 
carried  out  under  the  active  guidance  of  the 
brain  form  only  a  fraction  of  the  work  which 
goes  forward  in  the  body.  The  elaborate 
movements  of  respiration,  the  mechanism  of 
the  heart ;  of  the  arteries,  of  the  veins,  the 
regulated  contractions  of  the  stomach  and 
bowel,  besides  many  movements  of  the  body, 
are  being  conducted  and  regulated  day  and 
night  by  nerve  centres  and  systems  over 
which  we  have  little  or  no  control. 


CHAPTER  XV 

DEGENERATION  AND  REGENERATION 

Some  years  ago  everybody  was  alarmed  by 
the  statement  that  our  national  physique 
was  in  process  of  decay.  The  question  whether 
this  was  the  case  or  not  could  have  been  decided 
with  ease  if  exact  measurements  had  been  made 
of  the  generations  which  have  lived  in  this 
land  before  us ;  but  unfortunately  facts 
relating  to  the  ancient  British  are  very  few. 
Professor  Karl  Pearson  with  his  pupils  made  a 
searching  enquiry  regarding  the  stature  of 
prehistoric  people,  and  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  "  the  average  Englishman  of  to-day  is  cer- 
tainly not  behind  his  Anglo-Saxon  ancestor." 
Indeed  the  evidence  is  almost  positive  that 
modern  men  and  women  are  taller  than  their 
forerunners  of  a  thousand  years  ago,  but  the 
difficulty  of  making  a  dogmatic  statement  is 
increased  by  the  fact  that  in  all  times  stature 
has  varied  with  class.  Galton  found  that  the 
men  of  the  commonalty  of  modern  England 
had  a  stature  of  1,700  mm.  (5  ft.  7  in.) ;  the 
middle  class  (Pearson)  1,728  (5  ft.  8  in.)  ;  the 
Oxford  students  (Schuster)  1,740  (5  ft.  8*6  in.). 

231 


232  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

How  much  the  higher  stature  of  the  well- 
to-do  classes  is  due  to  better  breeding  and  how 
much  to  better  feeding  is  not  determined,  but 
all  the  evidence  points  to  inheritance  as  being 
the  more  important  factor.  Modern  statistics 
leave  no  doubt  about  well-nourished  boys 
and  girls  being  taller  and  heavier  than  children 
of  a  corresponding  age  who  are  less  well-nour- 
ished and  cared  for.  We  have  no  evidence, 
however,  to  show  that  under-feeding  will 
undermine  the  growth-energy  of  a  race ;  under- 
feeding stunts  the  individual  but  so  far  as  we 
know  leaves  the  stock  unaffected.  That, 
however,  is  no  reason  why  any  one  should  be 
underfed. 

When  we  come  to  enquire  into  other  features 
of  our  bodies  we  have  less  reason  to  form  an 
optimistic  opinion.  There  seems  to  be  at 
least  two  parts  or  regions  which  are  in  a  state 
of  change.  The  first  of  these  concerns  the 
whole  system  of  mastication — the  teeth,  the 
jaws,  the  face,  and  throat.  The  second  includes 
the  lower  part  of  the  bowel — ^the  appendix — 
the  caecum  and  colon.  These  parts  belong  to 
the  commencement  and  to  the  termination  of 
the  alimentary  system.  There  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  degenerative  changes  in  these 
two  regions  of  the  body  are  manifestations  of  a 
common  cause ;  the  races  in  which  we  find 
irregular  teeth,  contracted  jaws,  constricted 
throats  are  also  the  races  who  are  subject  to 
diseases  of  the  appendix,  caecum  and  colon. 


DEGENERATION  233 

We  may  conceive  two  things  to  have  happened 
(1)  That  these  changes  in  the  jaws,  teeth  and 
colon  are  simply  the  appearance  of  new  racial 
features ;  we  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  such 
characters  appear  spontaneously  because  we 
have  not  yet  discovered  the  cause  of  their 
origin,  (ii)  It  may  be  that  these  changes  which 
are  taking  place  in  the  national  physique  are 
due  to  an  alteration  in  the  kind  of  food  on  which 
we  modern  peoples  live.  Our  alimentary  system 
was  originally  evolved  to  cope  with  the  raw 
food  of  primitive  man.  Our  digestive  system 
may  be  unbalanced  by  the  nature  of  our  diet. 
Think  for  a  minute  how  we  stand  in  the  matter 
of  food  as  compared  with  the  ancient  Britons  ! 
To-day  the  world  empties  her  lap  into  England 
— wheat,  flesh  and  fruit.  Cooking  and  seas- 
oning have  altered  the  nature  of  a  diet  which 
in  its  concentrated  nature  and  abundant 
supply  forms  a  revolutionary  change  in  the 
methods  of  life.  The  ancient  Briton  had 
only  an  uncertain  and  crude  supply  gathered 
from  small  field-patch,  wood  or  river.  Cooking 
is  an  art  which  comes  with  civilization  ;  primi- 
tive man  may  have  roasted  or  broiled  his 
meat ;  he  probably  never  boiled  either  his 
meal  or  vegetables. 

The  evil  condition  of  modern  teeth  is 
notorious  ;  dental  decay  of  course  is  prevent- 
able by  strict  cleanliness.  In  the  skulls  of 
Britons  who  lived  in  these  islands  a  thousand 
years  ago  and  upwards,  it  is  usual  to  find  the 


234  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

teeth  sound,  their  crowns  worn  down  by  use, 
the  palate  well  spread ;  the  nasal  cavities 
well  formed,  the  cheek-bones  well  set.  We 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  our  remote 
ancestors  used  tooth  brushes.  It  is  true  that 
bad  teeth  are  also  found  in  ancient  European 
races  ;  for  instance,  in  the  Tilbury  man,  one 
of  the  earliest  of  human  remains  yet  discovered 
in  England,  many  of  the  teeth  have  been  lost 
during  life ;  even  in  the  European  of  the 
glacial  period,  dental  disease  may  be  seen. 
Such  a  condition  was  rare  in  prehistoric  times  ; 
now  it  affects  all.  The  teeth  of  prehistoric 
races  of  mankind  are  worn ;  the  crowns  are 
eroded  by  the  act  of  chewing  food  which  must 
have  been  tough  and  required  vigorous 
mastication.  In  modern  skulls  of  even  quite 
old  men  it  is  usual  to  see  such  teeth  as  have 
remained  sound  in  the  jaws,  quite  unworn. 
We  may  draw  one  conclusion  with  the  utmost 
certainty  from  the  comparison  of  ancient  and 
modern  teeth — that  the  ancient  and  modern 
dietaries  were  totally  different  in  nature.  The 
old  required  vigorous  mastication ;  the  modern 
does  not.  We  may  also  infer  that  the  disturb- 
ance which  is  so  widely  affecting  our  teeth, 
jaws,  nose  and  face  is  a  consequence  of  that 
change  in  dietary.  The  writer  must  have 
examined  at  one  time  or  another  over  100  skulls 
of  Neolithic  people — people  who  lived  in 
Britain  4,000  years  ago  or  more,  and  has 
only  seen  one  with  a  contracted  palate  and 


DEGENERATION  235 

irregular  teeth.     Although  contraction  in  the 
width  of  the  face,  narrowing  of  the  palate,  ob- 
struction of  the  nose  and  throat  are  extremely 
common  in  modern  children  and  adults,  these 
conditions    are    never    seen    at    birth.     They 
become    manifest    as    the    permanent    teeth 
erupt  and  com,e  into  use.     The  condition  we 
are  discussing  is  therefore  not  present  at  birth. 
While  it  cannot  then  be  called  hereditary  it  is 
possible  that  a  susceptibility  or  tendency  may 
descend  Trom  one  generation  to  another  in 
some  families.     All  we  can  say  at  present  is 
that  a  retrograde  change  does  appear  to  be  at 
work  on  the  faces  and  jaws  of  highly  civilized 
peoples  and  that  the  change  is  probably  due 
to  diet..    Our  diet  has  been  altered  but  we 
can  hardly  expect  nature  to  provide  us  at  once 
with  a  mouth  and  teeth  suitable  to  the  new 
conditions  of  living.     The  contracted  palate 
appears  to  be  Nature's  way  of  bringing  our 
jaws  into  harmony  with  the  kind  of  work  we 
are  giving  them  to  do.     Instead  of  waiting 
for  Nature  to  act  it  would  be  more  practical 
perhaps  to  alter  our  diet  to  suit  the  dental 
system    we    have    inherited.     Mention    has 
already  been  made  of  the  fact  that  the  third 
molars  in  highly  civilized  people  may  be  very 
late  in  erupting  or  may  never  cut  the  gum. 
The  third  molars  are  often  deformed  or  much 
reduced  in  size. 

Metchnikoff,  one  of  the  most  intrepid  stu- 
dents of  life  of  our  time,  has  boldly  declared 


236  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

that  the  appendix,  the  csecum  and  the  whole 
of  the  great  bowel — a  massive  and  long  tube 
with  a  highly-organized  system  of  coats  and 
tissues  and  vessels — are  useless  structures  in 
the  body  of  man.  Nay,  under  certain  condi- 
tions, the  presence  of  the  colic  system  may 
be  a  constant  danger  to  life.  Such  a  state- 
ment, coming  from  a  biologist  of  the  very  first 
rank,  is  bound  to  carry  authority  and  per- 
suasion. If  Metchnikoff's  opinion  is  well 
founded  then  the  colic  system  of  man  is  a 
gigantic  blunder  in  animal  construction.  We 
have  always  supposed  that  Nature  made  no 
mistakes. 

The  evidence  in  support  of  Professor 
Metchnikoff's  theory  is  altogether  unconvinc- 
ing. We  have  not  yet  discovered  the  function 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  great  bowel — the 
appendix,  csecum  and  colon.  It  has  always 
been  the  custom  to  regard  those  organs  whose 
functions  or  uses  are  unknown  as  useless, 
rudimentary  or  vestigial  organs.  As  our 
knowledge  of  the  body  has  increased  the  list 
of  useless  organs  has  decreased.  Our  know- 
ledge of  the  human  colic  system  is  of  the 
crudest.  The  function  of  the  appendix  we  do 
not  know,  but  in  the  human  body  at  birth  it 
is  identical  in  form  and  structure  to  the 
appendix  of  the  great  anthropoids.  It  is 
when  boyhood  and  girlhood  are  reached  that 
it  becomes  liable  to  disease  and  to  undergo 
reduction   in   size   and  contortion  in   shape. 


DEGENERATION  237 

We  seem  to  be  dealing  with  a  change  in  struc- 
ture of  exactly  similar  nature  to  those  degener- 
ative changes  which  we  have  already  noted 
in  the  teeth,  jaws  and  throat.  In  their  case 
it  seemed  most  likely  that  their  change  in 
form  is  a  result  of  diet  and  it  seems  very  prob- 
able that  the  same  statement  will  yet  be 
proved  to  be  true  in  the  case  of  the  appendix. 

What  little  we  know  of  the  function  of  the 
colon  favours  the  opinion — for  our  knowledge 
as  yet  is  only  a  collection  of  opinions  founded 
on  a  few  facts — that  the  fault  lies  not  in  the 
colic  system  but  in  the  nature  of  the  work  it 
is  asked  to  perform  in  modern  man.  Its 
main  work  in  our  ancestors  consisted  in  the 
digestion  of  the  cellulose  or  husk  elements  of 
grains  and  of  fruit  and  vegetables.  Our 
modern  dietary  has  called  upon  it  to  act  upon 
a  dietary  totally  different  to  that  for  which 
it  was  evolved.  Should  we  then  blame  the 
colon  and  call  it  a  useless  structure  ? 

Metchnikoff  has  helped  us  to  understand 
the  rich  fauna  of  micro-organisms  which 
flourishes  within  the  colon.  Under  normal 
circumstances  the  bacteria  appear  to  assist 
in  colic  digestion ;  nay,  it  is  possible  they  are 
essential  factors  in  colic  digestion.  We  cannot 
conceive  that  the  fauna  which  flourished  in 
the  colon  of  Neolithic  man  will  thrive  under 
the  conditions  which  hold  in  modern  man. 
Injurious  forms  of  fermentations  do  occur 
within   the   great   bowel   of    civilized   races. 


238  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

Absorption  of  fluids  takes  place  from  the  colon. 
It  is  in  the  colon  that  the  fseces  assume  their 
solid  form.  It  is  probably  when  the  contents 
are  injuriously  changed  by  fermentation  that 
substances  are  absorbed  which  poison  the 
whole  system.  In  cases  where  such  patho- 
logical conditions  prevail  the  surgeon  will 
relieve  a  patient's  condition  by  either  remov- 
ing the  colon  altogether  or  by  performing  an 
operation  which  will  throw  it  out  of  action. 
If  relief  is  thus  obtained  we  must  not  infer 
that  the  colon  is  a  useless  organ  ;  all  that  can 
be  said  is  that  it  is  not  indispensable  to  modern 
man  living  on  a  highly  artificial  diet.  There 
are  a  very  few  parts  of  the  body  which  the 
surgeon  has  not  removed  when  their  removal 
is  necessitated  by  disease.  Because  a  man 
can  get  along  in  life  with  only  one  arm  or  one 
eye  we  must  not  suppose  that  the  second  arm 
or  the  second  eye  were  superfluous.  There  is 
another  important  fact  known  to  all  biologists ; 
in  the  alimentary  system  of  every  vertebrate 
animal  a  part  is  specialized  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  a  colon.  It  is  not  likely  that  such  an 
ancient  and  essential  part  of  the  animal 
body  should  suddenly  become  useless.  The 
evidence,  so  far  as  it  goes,  leads  one  to  think 
that  the  kind  of  food  and  the  nature  of  cooking 
now  used  by  highly  civilized  races  are  unsuit- 
able for  our  alimentary  systems.  We  can 
hardly  expect  evolutionary  processes  to  keep 
pace  with  our  pampered  and  often  extrava- 


DEGENERATION  239 

gant  appetites.  As  rational  beings  we  should 
try  to  adapt  our  diet  to  the  colon  rather 
than  expect  that  structure  to  adapt  itself  to 
our  diet.  Still,  whatever  the  cause  and  the 
cure  may  be  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
certain  parts  of  our  alimentary  systems 
are  out  of  harmony  with  their  modern 
surroundings. 

As  regards  the  other  systems  of  the  body, 
the  brain  and  nervous  system,  the  muscles 
and  bones,  the  writer  is  not  aware  of  any 
modern  change  which  can  be  detected  in  them, 
with  one  exception.  The  long  bones  of  the 
lower  limbs  appear  to  be  altering  in  form.  In 
the  thigh-bones  of  the  early  British,  as  late 
as  the  date  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion,  there 
is  a  peculiar  flattening  of  the  upper  end  of  the 
femur.  The  leg-bone  or  tibia  of  these  is  often 
flattened  from  side  to  side,  giving  it  a  sword- 
like shape.  Thigh  and  leg-bones  of  this  t}^e 
are  uncommon  in  our  modern  population.  The 
meaning  of  the  change  in  femur  and  tibia  we 
do  not  understand.  Some  have  attributed 
these  ancient  characters  to  the  habit  of 
squatting ;  others  have  supposed  them  to 
indicate  a  people  who  were  accustomed  to 
hill  climbing. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  symptom 
of  bodily  decay  in  modern  man  if  we  except 
— and  they  are  important  exceptions — those  of 
the  alimentary  system.  The  so-called  signs  or 
stigmata  of  criminalism  have  already  been 


240  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

briefly  alluded    to    in    connexion    with    the 
outer  ear. 

The  spec^ialization  of  modern  life  does  com- 
pel men  and  women  to  spend  their  lives  under 
condi'  Sns  which  are  ill-suited  for  maintaining 
the  body  in  a  state  of  fitness  and  health.  The 
growing  body  cannot  develop  normally  unless 
the  muscular  system  is  regularly  and  naturally 
exercised.  At  no  time  has  physical  culture 
been  more  widely  popular  than  at  present. 
It  has  effected  much  that  is  good  and  perhaps 
a  little  that  is  really  harmful.  We  see  modern 
methods  of  physical  culture  replacing  the 
exercises  of  the  drill-sergeant  of  a  past 
generation.  The  ideal  human  body,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  old  drill-sergeant,  was  that  of 
a  man  at  attention,  with  head  thrown  abnorm- 
ally back,  pouting,  expanded  chest,  enclosed 
within  a  tightly-fitting  tunic,  back  rigid, 
muscles  tight  and  brawny,  toes  turned  out- 
wards. That  was  his  ideal,  and  it  was  wonder- 
ful how  he  succeeded  in  turning  raw  recruits 
into  these  parade  soldiers.  The  ideal  of 
course  was  wrong  ;  agility,  health  and  endur- 
ance were  sacrificed  to  parade  effect.  The 
ideal,  too,  which  is  the  aim  of  so  many  modern 
"  professors  "  of  physical  culture  is  equally 
wrong.  They  aim  at  producing  a  voluminous 
chest  and  a  Herculean  musculature.  They 
cultivate  in  their  pupils  a  muscle  system 
which  would  fit  them  to  earn  their  liveli- 
hood as  navvies.     Such  an  over-development, 


DEGENERATION  241 

we     shall     see,     is     always     bought    at    a 
price. 

Let  us  first  examine  the  question  of  chest 
development.  The  respiratory  movements — ■ 
their  rate — their  amplitude — are  determined 
by  the  condition  of  the  blood  in  the  lung. 
The  harder  the  muscles  work  the  greater  is 
the  volume  of  impure  blood  which  reaches  the 
lungs  and  the  greater  must  be  the  chest 
movement  to  supply  the  respiratory  exchange. 
In  children  the  best  respiratory  exercises  are 
obtained  by  allowing  them  to  run  in  play,  to 
contest  in  games.  The  condition  of  the  blood 
thus  produced  will  stimulate  the  free  respira- 
tory movements  and  a  natural  development  of 
the  chest.  No  artificial  breathing  exercises 
will  improve  on  Nature's  mechanism.  When 
men  and  women  lead  sedentary  and  quiet 
lives  their  lungs  are  partly  shut  down  ;  the 
respiratory  system  works  at  less  than  half 
its  capacity.  It  is  important  that  at  one 
period  of  the  day  at  least  the  lungs  should  be 
tested  to  their  full  power,  for  if  we  do  not  use 
them  occasionally  at  their  full  capacity,  then 
our  ability  of  responding  to  an  effort  will 
certainly  be  lost  in  time.  The  true  test  for 
our  chest  and  lungs  is  :  are  they  equal  to 
meet  the  demand  made  on  them  by  physical 
efforts  ? 

If  we  examine  men  and  children  closely  we 
shall  see  that  no  two  individuals  use  exactly 
the  same  movements  of  the  chest  in  breathing ; 
Q 


242  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

our  respiratory  movements  vary  as  much  as 
our  handwriting.  Both  can  be  improved ; 
but  there  is  no  absolute  ideal ;  each  must  be 
improved  or  corrected  according  to  its  type. 

In  recent  years  the  writer  has  had  opportuni- 
ties of  examining  the  greatly  expanded  chests 
of  men  who  were  ardent  pupils  at  schools  of 
physical  culture.  In  every  case  the  respira- 
tory movements  differed  in  type  from  those 
in  men  of  corresponding  age  who  were  in  fit 
condition,  but  had  not  gone  through  a  special 
training.  When  a  breath  is  taken  by  a  normal 
man  it  is  usual  to  see  the  upper  wall  of  the 
abdomen — the  epigastric  region — swell  for- 
wards under  the  pressure  caused  by  the  descent 
of  the  diaphragm,  and  the  viscera  under  it. 
In  those  with  specially  expanded  chests  this 
movement  is  absent ;  the  diaphragm  in 
those  pupils  instead  of  depressing  the  viscera 
is  held  up  by  them  and  exerts  its  strength  in 
lifting  the  whole  chest  upwards.  The  greatly 
expanded  chests  do  not  indicate  respiratory 
capacity,  for  it  is  seen  that  the  artificial 
expansion  of  the  chest  has  been  obtained 
by  elevating  the  ribs  to  an  inspiratory 
position.  In  normally  formed  chests  the 
ribs  are  placed  obliquely,  sloping  forwards 
and  downwards.  When  a  breath  is  taken 
the  capacity  of  the  chest  is  increased  by  rais- 
ing the  ribs  to  a  position  which  is  nearer 
the  horizontal.  In  specially,  but  wrongly, 
trained  men  the  ribs,  even  during  expiration. 


DEGENERATION  243 

are  maintained  in  an  inspiratory  position, 
the  respiratory  capacity  of  the  chest  being 
thereby  limited.  When  these  expanded  chests 
are  Hghted  up  by  means  of  X-rays  the  heart 
is  seen  to  be  big  and  hypertrophied,  the  lungs 
are  more  voluminous  than  they  should  be  in 
healthy  young  men.  Such  pupils  are  artifi- 
cially overtrained  ;  when  the  exuberance  of 
youth  is  over  they  will  fare  worse  in  life  than 
those  who  have  kept  themselves  naturally  fit. 
The  lungs  are  really  delicate  and  complex 
structures,  and  the  fact  cannot  be  over- 
emphasized that  they  can  be  injured  by  over- 
expansion  quite  as  readily  as  by  compression 
of  the  chest.  So  far  as  concerns  the  form  of 
chest  our  ideal  must  not  be  the  prominent 
expanded  type  so  often  portrayed  on  the 
posters  of  the  professors  of  physical  culture. 
Unless  the  muscles  of  the  back  are  kept  in 
use  in  the  young  the  spinal  column  is  certain 
to  develop  irregular  and  injurious  curvatures. 
We  have  already  pointed  out  that  in  the  erect 
posture,  whether  seated  or  standing,  all  the 
muscles  of  the  spine  are  in  action.  Continu- 
ous action  soon  produces  fatigue.  The  child, 
seated  at  the  school  desk,  quickly  discovers 
how  the  sense  of  fatigue  may  be  relieved.  The 
weight  on  the  spine  is  relieved  by  inclining 
the  head  until  it  is  supported  by  the  arm 
flexed  on  the  desk.  Further  ease  is  obtained 
by  allowing  the  body  to  bend  sideways  and 
obliquely,  for  in  this  manner  the  side  joints 


244  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

of  the  vertebrae  come  to  rest  on  each  other 
and  thus  the  muscles  are  relieved.  In  a 
short  time  the  bones  and  muscles  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  assumed  posture ;  only 
special  exercises  and  great  care  will  prevent 
spinal  deformities  from  becoming  permanent. 
Modern  teachers  are  well  aware  of  the  danger 
of  keeping  their  pupils  seated  or  standing  for  a 
long  lesson  ;  they  rest  their  pupils  by  giving 
them  exercises.  The  natural  exercises  are 
those  of  play — ^running,  jumping,  climbing — 
all  forms  of  active  games. 

In  every  healthy  individual  there  must  be 
a  correspondence  between  the  size  of  the  heart 
and  development  of  muscles.  Modern 
physiologists  are  keenly  alive  to  the  part 
which  muscles  play,  not  only  in  using  the 
blood  but  also  in  forcing  it  back  to  the  heart. 
Normal  chest  movements  also  assist  the  cir- 
culation. It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  those 
movements  of  the  body  used  as  morning 
exercises — ^flexion  and  extension  of  the  body, 
movements  of  the  limbs — are  really  means  by 
which  we  can  exercise  both  our  hearts  and 
lungs.  The  greater  the  current  of  blood 
forced  towards  the  chest  the  greater  must  be 
the  activity  of  heart  and  lungs. 

There  is  one  aspect  of  muscular  and 
breathing  exercises  which  is  often  overlooked. 
Right  exercises  should  also  improve  our 
control  of  muscles  ;  no  muscle  acts  by  itself  ; 
it    is    always    acting    against    an    opponent. 


DEGENERATION  245 

When  the  index  finger  is  bent  not  only  are  the 
bending  muscles  in  action  but  so  are  the 
extending  ones.  From  beginning  to  end  of 
the  act  the  mind  automatically  controls  or 
balances  the  one  set  against  the  other. 
Teachers  of  singing,  as  the  writer  learned  from 
the  well-known  treatise  on  singing  by  Mr. 
Shakespeare,  are  well  aware  of  this.  They 
strive  to  teach  their  pupils  to  balance  and  con- 
trol their  respiratory  movements  ;  from  the 
point  at  which  inspiration  begins  to  the  point 
at  which  the  following  expiration  ends,  both 
muscles  of  expiration  and  inspiration  are  in 
action,  and  at  every  phase  of  the  act  are 
under  not  a  conscious  but  an  automatic 
control.  In  learning  to  sing  the  control  of 
the  muscles  is  at  first  conscious ;  by  practice 
it  becomes  unconscious. 

It  was  the  writer's  intention  to  discuss 
what  may  be  termed  the  ideal  form  of  the 
human  body;  the  subject,  however,  is  too 
complex  to  be  dismissed  in  a  paragraph,  and 
must  be  alluded  to  only.  Artists  of  all  ages 
have  striven  to  shape  their  ideal  of  the  human 
figure  so  that  the  head,  the  neck,  the  body 
and  extremities  bear  a  definite  relationship  to 
each  other.  The  height  of  the  head  is  ac- 
cepted by  most  modern  artists  as  a  standard  ; 
French  artists  think  that  the  height  of  the 
head,  measured  from  the  level  of  the  crown  of 
the  head  to  the  level  of  the  chin,  with  the 
model's  eyes  directed  forward  in  a  horizontal 


246  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

plane,  should  equal  one  eighth  or  12.5  per 
cent,  of  the  stature.  Anthropologists  find 
that  the  head  is  about  13  per  cent,  of  the 
average  male  stature,  and  14  per  cent,  of  the 
average  female  stature,  while  in  a  baby  at 
birth  in  place  of  being  one-eighth  it  is  almost 
a  fourth  (23.5  per  cent.)  of  the  total  height  of 
the  body.  The  ancient  artists  of  Egypt  and 
Greece  constructed  the  ideal  human  frame 
so  that  the  stature  was  7 J  or  7f  heads  in 
length — thus  conforming  to  the  proportion 
which  anthropologists  have  found  to  be  true 
of  modern  man.  It  is  quite  certain  that  no 
artist  or  medical  man  has  ever  seen  a  human 
body  which  conforms  in  every  detail  to  the 
absolute  ideals  which  have  at  various  times 
been  postulated.  The  ideal  is  really  a  com- 
posite and  imaginary  figure  and  the  ordinary 
man  and  woman  need  not  be  disappointed  if 
in  the  shape  and  proportion  of  their  bodies 
they  fall  far  short  of  the  classical  ideals. 
After  all  the  true  test  of  the  body  is  how  it 
stands  the  wear  of  time  and  the  work  of  life ; 
the  best  of  health  may  be  sheltered  within  a 
rugged,  ugly  body.  What  one  may  well  envy 
is  the  easy  pose,  the  well-balanced  action  of 
the  muscles  which  characterize  such  classical 
figures  which  are  really  beautiful. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE  GENEALOGY  AND   ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN 

In  all  the  foregoing  chapters  we  have  been 
examining  and  reviewing  facts  which  bear 
more  or  less  directly  on  the  origin  of  man. 
In  this  final  and  brief  chapter  we  propose  to 
knit  the  various  threads  of  evidence  together 
and  see  how  much  we  really  know  and 
what  we  merely  guess  concerning  the  genealogy 
and  antiquity  of  man.  The  reader's  first 
difficulty  is — unless  he  is  already  familiar 
with  works  on  geology — to  obtain  a  true 
perspective  of  the  recent  periods  of  the 
earth's  history.  The  names  of  geological 
epochs — Pleistocene  (Quaternary),  Pliocene, 
Miocene,  Eocene,  may  mean  little  to  him.  We 
have  to  picture  those  periods  from  what  we 
know  of  the  present  or  recent  period.  The 
Recent  period  is  regarded  as  stretching  into 
the  past  until  the  glacial  or  Pleistocene  period 
is  reached.  We  have  the  most  hazy  ideas 
regarding  the  number  of  years  which  have 
passed  since  a  more  temperate  climate  settled 
over  Europe ;  by  some  authorities  the  number 
is  estimated  at  15,000  ;   by  others  at  150,000 

247 


248  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

years.  We  shall  accept  the  larger  figure  as 
the  nearer  approximation  to  the  truth  and 
use  it  as  a  rough  standard  for  the  comparison 
of  past  geological  periods.  Now  all  through 
the  Recent  period  we  find  remains  of  man 
modern  in  type  and  form  ;  the  evolution  and 
origin  of  man  is  therefore  to  be  sought  for  at 
an  earlier  date. 

The  period  in  the  earth's  history  which 
preceded  the  Recent  is  known  as  the  Pleisto- 
cene. It  is  characterized  by  periods  of  cold 
with  temperate  intervals.  As  regards  its 
duration,  it  may  be  estimated  at  least  ten 
times  the  length  of  the  Recent  period — ^pro- 
bably even  longer.  In  this  period,  too,  we 
know  of  remains  of  man — of  the  type  known 
as  Neanderthal  man.  He  is  very  differ- 
ent from  modern  man.  Indeed,  Professor 
Schwalbe  and  other  competent  judges  regard 
Neanderthal  man  as  a  special  species  of  man 
— Homo  primigenius — ^while  all  modern  men 
belong  to  the  species  Homo  sapiens !  Yet 
Neanderthal  man  had  a  very  large,  and,  as 
we  know  from  his  flint  implements,  a  capable 
brain.  We  can  thus  trace  man  into  the 
Pleistocene  period  and  through  it  almost  to 
the  beginning  of  that  period,  but  not  quite. 
The  oldest  Pleistocene  man,  whom  we  know 
only  from  a  lower  jaw  found  in  strata  near 
Heidelberg,  is  also  of  the  Neanderthal  type. 
We  do  not  know  the  Heidelberg  man's  skull 
and  brain,  but  have  reason  to  suppose  that  both 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN  249 

were  highly  developed.  The  Heidelberg  man 
belongs  to  an  early  stage  of  the  Pleistocene 
period,  but  there  is  evidence  to  show  that 
man  was  evolved  before  this  period  dawned, 
for  flint  implements,  of  human  workmanship, 
are  found  in  strata  formed  long  before  the 
beginning  of  the  Pleistocene  period. 

When  we  pass  beyond  the  Pleistocene  we 
enter  the  Pliocene  period  of  the  earth's  history. 
This  is  a  much  longer  epoch  than  the  Pleisto- 
cene ;  it  is  three  or  four  times  as  long.  Now, 
we  know  of  no  human  remains  which  we  can 
assign  to  this  period  with  certainty,  but  it  is 
very  probable  that  the  fossil  remains  found 
in  Java,  and  ascribed  to  a  human  form  to  which 
the  name  of  Pithecanthropus  has  been  given, 
belong  to  the  close  of  the  Pliocene  period. 
Many  regard  the  stratum  in  which  Pithecan- 
thropus was  found  as  having  been  laid  down 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Pleistocene  period. 
His  small  brain  and  primitive  skull  indicate  a 
much  earlier  period — probably  Pliocene  and 
not  a  very  late  part  of  that  period.  Thus, 
when  we  enter  the  Pliocene  period  we  lose 
all  certain  trace  of  man.  Some  day  remains 
will  be  found  which  will  carry  human  history 
further  into  the  past,  but  we  must  stop  at  this 
point  now  and  take  up  the  evidence  from 
another  point  of  view. 

The  Pliocene  period  we  have  seen  was  a 
long  one — three  or  four  times  the  length 
of  the  Pleistocene.    The  period  which  preceded 


250  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

the  Pliocene — ^the  Miocene — was  longer  still 
and  the  earlier  period — ^the  Eocene — still 
longer.  Now  we  know  the  Eocene  period 
was  the  one  in  which  the  mammalian  forms 
of  life  came  to  the  front  amongst  the  types 
of  vertebrate  animals.  The  lowest  forms  of 
primates  were  represented  then.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  Miocene  period  the  primates 
had  made  great  progress.  We  have  reason 
to  believe  that  by  the  beginning  of  that  period 
ancestral  forms  of  the  monkeys  of  the  New 
World,  of  the  Old  World,  and  what  is  much 
more  important  to  the  student  of  human 
origin — the  ancestral  stock  of  the  gibbons  or 
small  anthropoids  had  appeared.  By  the 
middle  of  the  Miocene  period  we  find  fossil 
remains  of  Dryopithecus — the  earliest  form 
of  the  large  anthropoids  yet  discovered. 
Now  that  is  an  important  fact ;  by  the  middle 
of  the  Miocene  period  a  large  form  of  anthro- 
poid had  appeared  for  certain ;  it  may 
have  been  evolved  earlier.  We  can  say 
with  confidence  from  the  evidence  produced 
in  former  chapters  of  this  book,  that  with  the 
appearance  of  the  great  anthropoids  the  point 
in  time  is  reached  when  we  may  reasonably 
expect  the  evolution  of  a  human  stock. 
The  giant  or  great-bodied  primates  probably 
divided  about  this  period  into  an  arboreal 
and  a  terrestrial  stock.  The  arboreal  stock 
gave  origin  to  the  gorilla,  the  chimpanzee, 
the  orang  and  the  extinct  ape,  Paleopithecus, 


ANTIQUITY  OF  IMAN  251 

which  we  know  to  have  lived  in  India  during 
the  PHocene  period ;  the  terrestrial  stock 
provided  the  ancestry  of  man. 

Thus  we  can  trace  man  back  to  the  end  of 
the  Pliocene  period,  and  there  his  traces  are 
lost ;  we  can  trace  the  primate  stock  forward 
from  the  Eocene  to  the  middle  of  the  Miocene, 
when  we  see  a  form  which  indicates  we  have 
reached  the  point  at  which  the  human  stock 
should  branch  off.  From  the  middle  of  the 
Miocene  to  the  end  of  the  Pliocene  is  as  yet  a 
blank  in  the  history  of  man,  but  who,  on 
surveying  the  progress  of  the  last  twenty  years, 
will  say  that  this  blank  will  not  yet  be  made 
good  ? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bland-Sutton,  Sir  J. — Evolution  and  Disease,    1890, 

Darwin,  Charles. — Descent  of  Man  and  Selection  in 
Relation  to  Sex.  1871.  Cheap  Edition.  1901. 
Expression  of  the  Emotions  in  Man  and  Animals, 
1872. 

Donaldson,  H.  H, — The  Growth  of  the  Brain,    1895, 

Duckworth,  W.  L.  H. — Morphology  and  Anthropology, 
1904.     Prehistoric  Man,  1912. 

Ellis,  Havelock. — Man  and  Woman.     1897. 

Geddes,  p.,  and  Thomson,  J.  A. — The  Evolution  of 
Sex.     1889.     Revised  edition,   1901. 

Haeckel,  E. — The  Evolution  of  Man.  Translated  by 
J.    McCabe.     1905. 

Bartmann,  R. — Anthropoid  Apes.     1885. 

HoPF,  Ludwig. — The  Human  Species.  English  Edition, 
1909. 

Huxley,  T.  H. — Man's  Place  in  Nature,  1863.  Re- 
printed in  Collected  Essays,  1900. 

Keane,   a.   H. — Ethnology.     2nd  Edition.     1896. 

Keith,  Arthur. — Ancient  Types  of  Man.  1911.  Human 
Embryology  and  Morphology.     1904. 

Lankester,  Sir  E.  Ray. — The  Kingdom  of  Mar^ 
1907. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles. — The  Geological  Evidence  of  the 
Antiquity  of  Man,     1863. 

253 


254  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Metoh-NIKoff,  E. — The  Nature  of  Man.  English  Trans- 
lation by  P.  Chalmers  Mitchell.     1903. 

Paley,  William. — Natural  Theology.  Edition  prepared 
by  Lord  Brougham  and  Sir  Charles  Bell.     1837-40. 

Prichard,  J,  G. — Researches  on  the  Physical  History  of 
Man.     1847. 

Qtjaik's  Elements  of  Anatomy.  Eleventh  Edition,  edited 
by  E.  A,  Schafer,  Johnson  Symington,  and  Thomas 
H.  Bryce,    1909. 

TopiNARD,  P. — Elements  d' Anthropologic  Generale,     1885« 

WlEDERSHEiM,  R. — The  Structure  of  Man.  Translated  by 
H.  and  M,  Bernard  5  Edited  by  G,  B,  Howes.    1895. 


INDEX 


ACEOMEGAIT,  61,  62 
African  races,  174,  176,  177 
Amnion,^  95 
Anthropoids,  41,  42 
Antliropoids,  Teeth  of,  45 
Appendix,  49,  236 
Azygos,  Lobe  of  lung,  83 

Bell,  Sir  Charles,  28 

Blood  relationship,  53 

Body,  Proportions  of,  245,  246 

Bone,  Structure  of,  226,  227 

Bone,  Growth  of,  59 

Brain,  Development  of,  34,  35,  36 

Brain,  Fissures  of,  23 

Brain,  Growth  of,  37 

Brain,  Hemispheres  of,  22 

Brain,  Sexual  difference  in,  151 

Brain,  Size  of,  32,  33,  34,  36,  37 

Brain  stem,   26 

Csecum,  49,  236 
Carotid  artery,  16,  104 
Cataract,  203 
Cerebellum,  26,  27 
Cerebrum,  22,  26 
Cheek,  Muscles  of,  188 
Chin,  193 
Chorion,  95 
Cleft  Palate,  101 
Cloaca,  106 
Club  foot,  107 
Colon,  236,  237,  238 
Cro-Magnon  race,  56,  172 
Cyclops,  123 

Derbyshire  neck,  17 
Dermoid    cysts,    122 
Development,  Arrest  of,  101 
Diaphragm,  18,  19 
Digi-stion,  Organs  of,  48 
Dryopithecus,  58,  '^oO 
Dwarfs,  60,  63,  68 

Ear,  191,  192,  210,  211 
Ear,  Muscles  of,  190,  191 


Embrvo,  Human,  95,  110 
Eye,  Development  of,  211,  212 
Eyelids,  Muscles  of,  185,  186 

Facial  muscles,  184,  189 

Facial     muscles.     Evolution     of, 

189,  190 
Finger  prints,  199,  200 
Flat  foot,  88,  222 
Foot,  78,  107 

Galley  Hill  man,  172 
Giants,  60,  68 
Gibbon,  74,  75,  76 
Gill  arches,  98,  104 
Gill  clefts,  98,  99 
Glands,  Secretion  of,  17 
Growth,  58,  64,  141,  143 
Growth  of  bone,  225 
Growth  of  head,  135,  136 

Hair,  203,  204-206 

Hand,  194 

Harvey,  11 

Hare-lip,  100 

Head  form,  167,  168,  169-172,  179 

Heart,  18 

Heart,   Development  of,  102 

Heidelberg  man,  248,  249 

Hernia,  93 

Higher  primates,  51 

Hunter,  John,  40 

Jaws,  Irregular  development  of, 

178 
Joint,  Hip,  218 
Joints,  of  head,  216 

Leg,  Calf  of,  89,  90 
Levers  in  body,   216-219-224 
Lips,  Muscles  of  the,  186,  187 
Lungs,  18 

Mammary  glands,   154,   156 
Mandible,   Arrested  development 
of,  125 

255 


256 


INDEX 


Mastication,  Mechanism  of,  228, 

229 
Mastication,  Muscles  of,  137, 138 
Median  nerve,   12 
Metchnikofl,    236,   237 
Microceplialic  Idiot,  Brain  of,  108, 

109 
Miocene  period,  250 
Mongolian  race,  179 
Monkeys  of  Old  and  New  World, 

42,  43,  250 
Monsters,  Artificial  production  ofj 

121 
Muscles,  Vestigial,  85,  86 

Nails,  206 

Neanderthal  race,  56,  172,  177, 

248 
Nerves,  Function  of,  29,  30 
Nerves,  Origin  of,  28,  29,  30 
Nerve  system.  Evolution  of,  50 
Nerves  of  spinal  cord,  27 
New  Structures,  Origin  of,  91,  92 
Nose,  Form  of,  177,  178 
Nose,  Muscles  of,  186 

Olfactory  nerves,  26,  208 
Optic  nerves,  26 
Organ  of  Jacobson,  209 
Ovum,  96 

Palmistry,  197,  198 
Parasitic  foetus,  116,  117 
Phrenology,  32,  183 
Pigment,  173,  174,  175,  179 
Pineal  gland,  213 
Pithecanthropus,   56,   249 
Pituitary   gland,    61 
Platysma  myoides,  188 
Pleistocene  period,  247,  248 
Pliocene  period,  249 


Pygmy  races,  66,  67 

Hace  caste,  181 
Eadial  artery,  10,  12,  13 
Benal  organs,  112 
Eespiration,  19,  148,  241,  242 

Sexual  characters,  145,  146,  149 
Sexual   glands,   Development   of, 

152,  153 
Sexual  glands.  Secretions  of,  63, 

64,  155,  159,  161,  162 
Size  of  body,  58 
Skin,.  201,  202 
Smell,  209 

Speech  centre,  30,  31 
Spinal  cord,  27 
Stature,  54,  231 
Supernumerary  digits,  126 
Supracondyloid  process,  127 
Supraorbital  ridges,  177,  179 
Sympathetic  nerve  system,  184 
Syphilis,  52 

Tail,  79,  80 

Tail,  Function  of,  81 

Teeth,  44,  133,  137,  150,  178,  233 

Thumb,  195,  196 

Thyroid  gland,  16,  17,  63 

Thyroid  secretion,  205 

Tibia,  Changes  in,  239 

Tongue,  207 

Tongue,  Papillae  of,  208 

Twins,  113,  114,  115,  116 

Twms,  United,  117,  118 

Uterus,  110,  111 

Vestigial  structures,  209-214 
Viscera,  Transposition  of,  116 
Voice,  Breaking  of,  160 


Date  Due 

1 

•irts^ 

/^ 

/x,l^ 

4/i 

O^T  ai 

IQlfl 

"1 

.^ff^'^ 

1^ 

m^  ■•' 

1 

f) 

1 

CxJ 


Cu 

a 


t\D 


o 


K 


'^i 


